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

TENSION IS WHO YOU THINK YOU SHOULD BE.
RELAXATION IS WHO YOU ARE.
LEARN THE SKILLS OF DECISION-MAKING
The classical virtues are all decision-making heuristics to 
make one optimize for the long term rather than for the short 
term. [11]

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104 · 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
Self-serving conclusions should have a higher bar.
I do view a lot of my goals over the next few years of uncondi-
tioning previous learned responses or habituated responses, 
so I can make decisions more cleanly in the moment with-
out relying on memory or prepackaged heuristics and 
judgments. [4]
Almost all biases are time-saving heuristics. For important 
decisions, discard memory and identity, and focus on the 
problem.
Radical honesty just means I want to be free. Part of being 
free means I can say what I think and think what I say. They’re 
highly congruent and integrated. Theoretical physicist Richard 
Feynman famously said, “You should never, ever fool anybody, 
and you are the easiest person to fool.” The moment you tell 
somebody something dishonest, you’ve lied to yourself. Then 
you’ll start believing your own lie, which will disconnect you 
from reality and take you down the wrong road.
I never ask if “I like it” or “I don’t like it.” I think “this is what it 
is” or “this is what it isn’t.”
—Richard Feynman
It’s really important for me to be honest. I don’t go out of my 
way volunteering negative or nasty things. I would combine 

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B U I L D I N G J U D G M E N T · 105
radical honesty with an old rule Warren Buffett has, which is 
praise specifically, criticize generally. I try to follow this. I don’t 
always follow it, but I think I follow it enough to have made a 
difference in my life.
If you have a criticism of someone, then don’t criticize the 
person—criticize the general approach or criticize the class 
of activities. If you have to praise somebody, then always try 
and find the person who is the best example of what you’re 
praising and praise the person, specifically. Then people’s egos 
and identities, which we all have, don’t work against you. They 
work for you. [4]