Learning & explaining21 categories
Debug my mental model
When your predictions about a system keep turning out wrong.
Something behaves in a way I did not expect. My model of it is wrong somewhere. Help me find where. Work like this: 1. Restate my model back to me as a set of explicit beliefs, including the ones I did not state but clearly assumed. 2. Identify which belief the observed behaviour contradicts. 3. Ask me what I would predict in two or three other situations. Use my answers to locate the faulty belief rather than guessing at it. 4. Once you have found it, tell me the correct belief, why the wrong one seemed to work until now, and what else I have probably got wrong as a consequence. What I expected: What actually happened: Why I expected it:
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.
Checking your understanding. Quizzes, teach-backs and gap hunts that find what you only think you know.
Related prompts
Test whether I actually understand thisAfter reading about something and feeling like you get it.Find the holes in what I knowYou've been working in an area a while and suspect you have blind spots.I'll explain it, you find where I'm wrongThe strongest check there is: say it out loud and see what collapses.Interview me on this subjectPreparing for an interview, a viva, or a conversation where you'll be pressed.Test me on thisYou read about something and feel like you got it.What am I missing?You've worked in an area a while and suspect there are blind spots.
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