The Work Required to Have an Opinion

I never allow myself to have an opinion on anything that I don’t know the other side’s argument better than they do. - Charlie Munger

The work is the hard part, that’s why people avoid it.

You have to do the reading.

You have to talk to competent people and understand their arguments.

You have to think about the key variables and how they interact over time.

You have to listen and chase down arguments that run counter to your views.

You have to think about how you might be fooling yourself.

You have to see the issue from multiple perspectives.

You have to think.

You need to become your most intelligent critic and have the intellectual honesty to kill some of your best-loved ideas.

The difference between the people who do the work and the people who just reel off memorized opinions is huge. When you do the work, you can answer the next question. You know when to follow the rules and when they’ll get you in trouble.

The ability to destroy your ideas rapidly instead of slowly when the occasion is right is one of the most valuable things. You have to work hard on it. Ask yourself what are the arguments on the other side. It’s bad to have an opinion you’re proud of if you can’t state the arguments for the other side better than your opponents. This is a great mental discipline.