Learning & explaining21 categories
Distinguish two things I keep confusing
Two terms you nod along to but could not reliably tell apart.
I keep confusing the two things below. Separate them for good. 1. **One-line definition of each**, written so the definitions cannot be swapped without becoming wrong. 2. **Why they get confused.** What they genuinely share. 3. **The decisive difference.** The single test I can apply to tell which one I am looking at. 4. **Side-by-side table** on the dimensions that actually differ. Skip dimensions where they are the same. 5. **Three examples**, one clearly A, one clearly B, one borderline. Explain the borderline case properly. 6. **The cost of mixing them up**: what goes wrong in practice. A: B:
Making it yours
- Paste your own material where the prompt asks for it. Everything above that line is instruction, not content.
- Delete any rule that does not apply to you. A shorter prompt that fits beats a thorough one that does not.
- If the answer comes back vague, add a line saying what you do not want. Constraints work better than encouragement.
Scrutinising ideas. Where a concept stops working, what people get wrong, and whether a claim holds up.
Related prompts
What do people usually get wrong about this?Before you teach something, or before you assume your own version is right.Summarise this paper and tell me if it holds upA research paper or long article you need the substance of, plus a sanity check.What would I have to believe for this to be true?Evaluating a claim, a strategy, or an argument you can't immediately fault.Tell these two apartTwo terms you nod along to and could not reliably distinguish.Where does this stop working?An idea you've started applying everywhere.Explain this at three levels of depthFirst contact with a concept, when you don't yet know how deep you need to go.
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