the value of a dichotomy is not in how sharply it divides, but in how well it survives contact with nuance. the best frames clarify without overcommitting, and they leave room for revision when the world inevitably refuses to behave.
Frames are not neutral.
They filter reality, emphasize certain signals, suppress others, and quietly dictate what kinds of questions can even be asked. When a frame hardens into a rigid dichotomy, it often becomes fragile. It explains less precisely at the edges, where most of the action tends to be.
A good contrast does something subtler. It establishes explanatory boundaries without pretending those boundaries are absolute. It allows frames to interplay rather than collide, to overlap where reality overlaps, and to remain porous where uncertainty lives. Such framing does not deny complexity, but disciplines it.
A good dichotomy is hard to find.
They filter reality, emphasize certain signals, suppress others, and quietly dictate what kinds of questions can even be asked. When a frame hardens into a rigid dichotomy, it often becomes fragile. It explains less precisely at the edges, where most of the action tends to be.
A good contrast does something subtler. It establishes explanatory boundaries without pretending those boundaries are absolute. It allows frames to interplay rather than collide, to overlap where reality overlaps, and to remain porous where uncertainty lives. Such framing does not deny complexity, but disciplines it.
A good dichotomy is hard to find.
My Frame of Good.
A good for me is knowing that which causes a jouyus expansion of things for better and doing it.
people fail to pursue the Good not due to weakness of will, but because they lack genuine knowledge of it; true understanding would compel action without wavering.
A good for me is knowing that which causes a jouyus expansion of things for better and doing it.
people fail to pursue the Good not due to weakness of will, but because they lack genuine knowledge of it; true understanding would compel action without wavering.
InterplayFrames
Framings that transformed our world
Good Ideas Frame The world Better
When you frame something, a useful definition of success is precisely that - the frame fits the context
The context is smarter than you. It holds more nuance and information than you can fit in your head. Collaborate with it.
The context is smarter than you. It holds more nuance and information than you can fit in your head. Collaborate with it.
Framing emotion as shy creatures.
"emotions are shy creatures; they retreat when they sense they're being watched too closely."
"emotions are shy creatures; they retreat when they sense they're being watched too closely."
"You may forget most compliments, but you never forget the one you needed on your worst day."
❤3
Culture = framings
Culture is like when everyone in a group starts thinking about the world in the exact same way, without really planning it.
Simple Example: Imagine kids walking down a hallway at school. The first two dodge left or right to avoid bumping. Everyone behind copies them, and soon—poof!—two neat lanes form. No one voted on it; they just copied to make it easy. That's culture starting small.
What Gets Copied: It's not just walking or clapping together. It's deeper: the stuff we assume "exists" in our heads, like invisible rules for what matters. In Japan, people might queue super neatly for trains but ignore other rules because their group "frame" sees politeness as keeping harmony, not blind obedience.
Why It Sticks: We humans love copying others, it's wired in us. Once a way of thinking spreads, it feels normal and pulls newcomers in, like a snowball rolling bigger. Kids in some places think "fish" as one big group; others see "shark" or "goldfish" first, changing how they explore nature.
Culture isn't old rules carved in stone. It's framings (shared mental lenses) that sync up by chance, copying, and habit. They shape what we notice, do, and even laws we follow, all to cut down on daily mix-ups.
https://aethermug.com/posts/culture-is-the-mass-synchronization-of-framings
Culture is like when everyone in a group starts thinking about the world in the exact same way, without really planning it.
Simple Example: Imagine kids walking down a hallway at school. The first two dodge left or right to avoid bumping. Everyone behind copies them, and soon—poof!—two neat lanes form. No one voted on it; they just copied to make it easy. That's culture starting small.
What Gets Copied: It's not just walking or clapping together. It's deeper: the stuff we assume "exists" in our heads, like invisible rules for what matters. In Japan, people might queue super neatly for trains but ignore other rules because their group "frame" sees politeness as keeping harmony, not blind obedience.
Why It Sticks: We humans love copying others, it's wired in us. Once a way of thinking spreads, it feels normal and pulls newcomers in, like a snowball rolling bigger. Kids in some places think "fish" as one big group; others see "shark" or "goldfish" first, changing how they explore nature.
Culture isn't old rules carved in stone. It's framings (shared mental lenses) that sync up by chance, copying, and habit. They shape what we notice, do, and even laws we follow, all to cut down on daily mix-ups.
https://aethermug.com/posts/culture-is-the-mass-synchronization-of-framings
❤1👍1
The only satisfying solution to the prisoner’s dilemma is to avoid prisoner’s dilemmas.
– William Poundstone (Prisoner’s Dilemma)
– William Poundstone (Prisoner’s Dilemma)
It turns out that visualizing framings is surprisingly straightforward.
its is a simple way to decide what "things" exist in your view of the world and what gets ignored. Think of it like drawing boxes around stuff to focus your thinking.
https://aethermug.com/posts/visualizing-framings
its is a simple way to decide what "things" exist in your view of the world and what gets ignored. Think of it like drawing boxes around stuff to focus your thinking.
https://aethermug.com/posts/visualizing-framings
InterplayFrames
ts is a simple way to decide what "things" exist in your view of the world and what gets ignored.
a framing is the set of things that you consider to exist when thinking about something, including what those things do. You can't keep the whole universe in mind, so you have to pick a minimal number of "moving parts" that suffices to build your next model.
👍1
InterplayFrames
Good Frame <> Bad Frame
Spot bad framings by questioning your boxes: "What am I ignoring? Does this match what happens?" Switch deliberately for better thinking