The “failure to look up options” version of this is a major source of forehead-slappage for me.
“Why is [unclogging this sink / gluing together this broken vase / reformatting ths hard drive] taking so long? There has got to be a better way! Wait, why do I think I know how to do this in the first place? *Check Google*… Dammit, I was doing it wrong!”
And for someone who finds that remembering the fundamental question brings to their mind all the appropriate context-specific questions that follow from it, presumably all that person needs to do is keep the fundamental question in mind. (Similar things are true of “What should I do next, and what do I expect will happen if I do?”)
Sadly, I am not yet that enlightened, so I find that keeping some of the context-specific questions explicitly in mind can help.
The “failure to look up options” version of this is a major source of forehead-slappage for me.
“Why is [unclogging this sink / gluing together this broken vase / reformatting ths hard drive] taking so long? There has got to be a better way! Wait, why do I think I know how to do this in the first place? *Check Google*… Dammit, I was doing it wrong!”
This is going on my list of questions to ask about any new project.
Just beware the opposite problem.
You can avoid both problems!
True enough. Anything can be overdone.
It is really just a form of the fundamental question of rationality, “What do you believe, and why do you believe it?”
Sure, that’s true.
And for someone who finds that remembering the fundamental question brings to their mind all the appropriate context-specific questions that follow from it, presumably all that person needs to do is keep the fundamental question in mind. (Similar things are true of “What should I do next, and what do I expect will happen if I do?”)
Sadly, I am not yet that enlightened, so I find that keeping some of the context-specific questions explicitly in mind can help.
Indeed, I can’t even keep that version in mind, despite it being helpful every time.
Nor, tangentially, can I remember to duck my head when getting into a car, ever since getting my Saturn Vue. Whack “Oh yeah, that happens every time.”
Fortunately, I do appreciate physical comedy.