Eric-Jorgenson The-Almanack-of-Naval-Ravikant indd

What is underrated?
Judgment. Judgment is underrated. [1]
Can you define judgment?
My definition of wisdom is knowing the long-term conse-
quences of your actions. Wisdom applied to external problems 
is judgment. They’re highly linked; knowing the long-term 
consequences of your actions and then making the right deci-
sion to capitalize on that. [78]
In an age of leverage, one correct decision can win 
everything.

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B U I L D I N G J U D G M E N T · 95
Without hard work, you’ll develop neither judgment nor 
leverage.
You have to put in the time, but the judgment is more import-
ant. The direction you’re heading in matters more than how 
fast you move, especially with leverage. Picking the direction 
you’re heading in for every decision is far, far more important 
than how much force you apply. Just pick the right direction 
to start walking in, and start walking. [1]
HOW TO THINK CLEARLY
“Clear thinker” is a better compliment than “smart.”
Real knowledge is intrinsic, and it’s built from the ground up. 
To use a math example, you can’t understand trigonometry 
without understanding arithmetic and geometry. Basically, if 
someone is using a lot of fancy words and a lot of big concepts, 
they probably don’t know what they’re talking about. I think 
the smartest people can explain things to a child. If you can’t 
explain it to a child, then you don’t know it. It’s a common 
saying and it’s very true.
Richard Feynman very famously does this in “Six Easy 
Pieces,” one of his early physics lectures. He basically explains 
mathematics in three pages. He starts from the number line—
counting—and then he goes all the way up to precalculus. He 
just builds it up through an unbroken chain of logic. He doesn’t 
rely on any definitions.

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96 · T H E A L M A N A C K O F N A V A L R A V I K A N T
The really smart thinkers are clear thinkers. They understand 
the basics at a very, very fundamental level. I would rather 
understand the basics really well than memorize all kinds of 
complicated concepts I can’t stitch together and can’t rederive 
from the basics. If you can’t rederive concepts from the basics 
as you need them, you’re lost. You’re just memorizing. [4]
The advanced concepts in a field are less proven. We use them 
to signal insider knowledge, but we’d be better off nailing the 
basics. [11]
Clear thinkers appeal to their own authority.