“A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence.” — David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

If you feel dragged into debates that go nowhere, or find yourself thinking about ideas that never touch reality, you’re leaking energy. Philosophical razors are the tools to stop the bleed. They’re not about “winning arguments”; they’re about refusing to waste attention on claims that have no consequences, no evidence, or no path to action.

Razors do three things for you:

* Protect your focus. They filter out topics that are unfalsifiable, untestable, or irrelevant to your goals—so you spend time where outcomes actually change.

* Reduce frustration. Instead of wrestling with every hypothetical, you set rules of engagement: what must be shown, what can be ignored, and when to simply move on.

* Speed decisions. By pre-committing to standards of evidence and utility, you cut hours of circular thinking down to minutes.

In this episode I show how a few simple rules prevent common traps: arguing over unfalsifiable “what ifs,” mistaking complexity for credibility, and giving equal weight to unequally supported ideas. I also cover when not to use a razor—because over-pruning can blind you to real signals.

The goal isn’t to be cynical; it’s to be effective. Keep your curiosity. Just stop paying attention tax to ideas that won’t pay you back.

RESOURCES:

* List of Philosophical Razors

* Mind Valley Founder Says He Can Read a Book by Touching It

* Wife Not Caring About Conspiracy Theories

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