Which Questions I Keep ยท four essays

At a Glance

A few questions are kept for life. Some a test can answer by changing one thing alone; the rest stay open, and get asked again and again.

  1. 1Twelve Questions, Invited in for TeaHow does a question get a chair, and stay?
  2. 2Questions that Outlived the AnswerWhich questions can an answer close?
  3. 3One Hundred Beats a MinuteWhen does a mental model become a framework?
  4. 4Gifts to a Future SelfHow would I know who I am becoming?
Idea1234
Still open
Guess or cause
Tests on one card
Asked again, and counted

Still open

Some questions no answer closes. They are kept, not ticked off.

  1. Part 1A favorite question stays open after a good answer arrives.
  2. Part 2What he owed the world is a values question: a purpose is chosen, not watched.
  3. Part 4A tally cannot score who am I becoming: no single answer closes it.

Guess or cause

A guess and a cause feel the same until something tests them.

  1. Part 1No study seems to have tested the twelve-problem habit; the evidence is stories.
  2. Part 2Posture and the bell were changed alone, and the count held: neither pushed anything.
  3. Part 3Flooding is a mechanism, not a mood: past about one hundred beats, attention runs out.
  4. Part 4A worn shaft can be held up and checked; a motive cannot.

Tests on one card

A few short tests decide what gets kept.

  1. Part 1Generous and Open: together they spell GO.
  2. Part 2The model passes the portable test: it holds on any ward, on any morning.
  3. Part 3Simple, Portable, Act, Repeat: the four tests spell SPAR.

Asked again, and counted

One case settles little; the same question asked many times says more.

  1. Part 1Each year the same twelve questions come back a little wiser.
  2. Part 3One timeout that worked by luck is not a framework.
  3. Part 4No single day proves an identity. It only fails to count against one.