The Art of Clear Thinking: A Stealth Fighter Pilot's Timeless Rules for Making Tough Decisions

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For 2021 I set myself the theme "a year of ratio & will"; so I am reading mostly on the topics of critical thinking, rationality, discipline, and willpower. Quite late I stumbled upon Flesch's "The Art of Clear Thinking" via the reference section of another book; a no-brainer to be added to my reading list for the year. In air combat, the threats are continually changing as each side postures to protect their vulnerabilities while also exploiting their adversary’s. Decisions are continually tested and countered in the ultimate cat-and-mouse game. This continual evolution has led to a modern battlefield that is as diverse as it is dangerous. The Art of Clear Thinking" stands as a testament to the transformative power of disciplined decision-making. This book has the potential to benefit individuals from all walks of life, from CEOs and astronauts to students and entrepreneurs. It is a must-read for anyone seeking to enhance their cognitive abilities and navigate uncertainty with clarity and precision. The idea of pattern recognition is obvious, and yet I think that the author takes it to the next level. He suggests reasons why pattern recognition is advanced by studying different types of languages and exposure to a wider variety of experiences. This is interesting to think about given that the public education system doesn't appear to really engage in this idea at all in its view of learning. nature will never mind whether your decision is perfect or not, as long as we can maneuver what the life has given. but, identify the error thinking, i think, is a must, for at least showing us now in the right place, at least for now.

Finally, this is 2021, you know all those fallacies already. If you want more in-depth stuff, it's out there. And if you want this book, you'll get the some content on wikipedia. As fighter pilots, we’ve been at the leading edge of decision-making theory since Air Force Colonel John Boyd developed the OODA—observe, orient, decide, act—loop based on his experiences flying missions during the Korean War. In the years since, other fighter pilot greats, such as Colonel John Warden and General David Deptula, have made significant contributions to the field. It’s a constantly evolving field that gives fighter pilots the best mental tools possible to solve the problems they encounter. Though we have talented pilots, the mantra that we bet our lives on is that a good pilot uses superior judgment to avoid situations that require the use of superior skill. Clean and clear decision-making will nearly always beat talent alone. The Art of Clear Thinking pulls you in like the G-forces of a fighter jet. Entertaining and profound, Hasard takes you on a heart-pounding journey through life-or-death stories woven with the critical, decision-making tips taught to elite fighter pilots. This book will sharpen your ability to stop, see clearly, and make the key choices that may change the entire course of your future." —Harvey, Karp, MD, FAAP, CEO, Happiest Baby, Inc., AuthorThe Art of Clear Thinking takes an in-depth look at the everyday illusions we come across, and how to defeat them once and for all. What makes us jump to conclusions, evaluate incorrectly, and consistently make errors when we should know better? Why do we act against our own interests so frequently? The system that Lee describes is known as the ACE Helix - Assess, Choose, and Execute. Lee presents a well thought out approach for taking these concepts and applying them to the world that most of us live in. The vast majority of us will never be soldiers, let alone fighter pilots. The decisions we make will most likely not have life or death implications. Yet, these principles will provide a platform for evaluating current circumstances and drawing on the experiences we’ve had to make the best decision within the shortest period of time that is possible. The second phase is choosing the correct course of action. One aspect of that is coming up with multiple solutions. In the Air Force, what we do to increase creativity — that's one thing that can give a high return for a little amount of effort — is come up with more solutions. A lot of people like to just jump to conclusions and start running towards a solution. But in the F-16, we have a thing that we teach new pilots: “There’s no problem so bad you can’t make it worse.” As a fighter pilot, one of the things you get used to is always being seconds away from a fiery death. You’re balancing on a razor’s edge of performance, where the success of each flight hinges on the accumulation of thousands of correct decisions. It only takes one wrong move for a flight to end in catastrophe, which, unfortunately, has happened often throughout our history. The Art of Clear Thinking: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Making Tough Decisions" by Hasard Lee is an extraordinary book that offers invaluable insights into the world of decision-making. Lee, drawing from his experience as a fighter pilot, skillfully translates the high-stakes decision-making process into practical lessons applicable to any aspect of life.

You've been in countless high-stress situations. Dogfights. Engine flameouts. Tough landings. I was hoping you could walk us through a particular moment when you were in trouble and needed to make a clear decision.In Hasard’s book, we learn from the best. Hasard's well-honed decision-making process can transform your operations and output." One day I walked into the secure vault, which is the tactical nerve center of every fighter squadron, and Cygon was there telling a story about the test program he had been a part of in the F-16. He had learned that in a clean configuration, the F-16 would begin to buffet at around Mach 1.6—it was a known area where the aerodynamic forces would compound and amplify the vibrations. He said that it was possible to push through it by counterintuitively going faster. The change in resonance would dampen the flexing and reduce the vibration. It was an interesting story, but one that I didn’t think would apply to the tactical flying we did during day-to-day operations. In The Art of Clear Thinking , Hasard Lee distills what he’s learned during his career flying some of the Air Force’s most advanced aircraft. With gripping firsthand accounts from his time as a fighter pilot and fascinating turning points throughout history, Hasard reveals powerful decision-making principles that can be used in business and in life, Being critical does not just mean finding fault. It means assessing evidence from a variety of sources and making reasoned conclusions. As a result of your analysis you may decide that a particular piece of evidence is not robust, or that you disagree with the conclusion, but you should be able to state why you have come to this view and incorporate this into a bigger picture of the literature.

The Art of Clear Thinking" is not merely a self-help book; it is a captivating journey that challenges readers to question their own cognitive processes and develop a mindset geared towards success. Lee's storytelling prowess, combined with his wealth of expertise, makes this book a game-changer for anyone striving to perform at their peak. As someone who wasn’t much of an active reader, this book 100% changed my view on reading. Hasard Lee, a U.S. Air Force Fighter Pilot, discusses multiple methods and concepts for improving one’s critical thinking skills. We know that these are legit tips since he was hand-selected by the Air Force to fly the F-35, the most advanced weapon systems in the world. And what better way to convey his advice, than through past experiences and significant flights in aviation history. As a fighter pilot with two tours in Vietnam, I loved this book. Hasard’s words help the reader to learn about resourcefulness and planning when lives are on the line.

Hasard Lee

Developing critical thinking skills is essential to your success at University and beyond. We all need to be critical thinkers to help us navigate our way through an information-rich world. Storytelling is the most powerful way of imparting knowledge. Outside of experiencing a lesson on your own, stories allow for context, which, combined with knowledge, produce understanding. With that in mind, I’ve drawn on many stories—some from my own time flying fighter aircraft, some from the business world, and some from key decisions throughout history to help illustrate the different aspects of the decision-making process and how they can be applied. This particular chapter focuses on how to think through difficulties, and Flesch surveys the field of commentators, each having essentially the same insights about the process. At the end, he offers this down-to-earth list of reminders: Based on years of experience making high-stakes, split-second decisions as an Air Force fighter pilot, The Art of Clear Thinking teaches readers to make clear decisions in their everyday life. ​ With new or complex situations, we must move beyond our risk-versus-reward intuition and think in terms of expected value. upside multiplied by the probability of it occurring, minus the downside multiplied by the probability of that occurring. …in the real world, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to determine the exact numbers to use. This is called the base of sand problem. The solution, therefore, is to forgo the illusion of precision and use a technique called fast-forecasting. In almost every system, there are only a few variables that, due to strong power laws, drive the system. not get overwhelmed by the details—logic and reason are what drive the technique. Precision is often the enemy of conceptual thinking. no decision is a decision, and it’s usually the worst one to make.”

I thus looked up Rudolf Flesch and read about his contributions to the use of plain English in everyday life. He is also among the developers of the Flesch-Kincaid readability test (where I usually classify in the 'highly abstract' category), among other achievements. Flesch was born in Vienna, Austria. He fled to the United States to avoid the imminent invasion of the Nazis, to avoid Jewish prosecution. Once in America, he met Elizabeth Terpenning, whom he married. They had six children: Anne, Hugo, Jillian, Katrina, Abigal, and Janet. Flesch lived the majority of his life with his wife and children in Dobbs Ferry, New York, a small village in southern Westchester county. Rudolf Flesch (8 May 1911 – 5 October 1986) was an author, readability expert, and writing consultant who was an early and vigorous proponent of plain English in the United States. He created the Flesch Reading Ease test and was co-creator of the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test. He was raised in Austria and finished university there, studying law. He then moved to the United States and entered a graduate program at Columbia University, where he earned a Ph.D in English. A crucial component in all of this, and which you cover extensively in the book, is mental toughness. By necessity and through training, you've cultivated a lot of it. What are some ways you keep yourself sharp?Now he shares gripping firsthand accounts from his time as a fighter pilot, and distills what he's learned into a powerful ACE Helix framework that can be used in business and in life, revealing how to: As the title of this psychological self-help work suggests, Flesch explores what clear thinking is and how it can be achieved. He thereby takes you on an unexpected ride, touching the scientific fields of psychology, linguistics, anthropology, neurology, sociology, history, probability theory, and more.