I recently saw a tweet that asked GPT, what micro skills a person should master.
I asked Claude a similar question, though had preloaded the conversation with “things a modern day Aristotle would teach a 24yo student”.
I think this is probably a valuable exercise to undertake yourself. I’m providing my prompt, and Claude’s response as an ‘appetiser’ to get you interested in this task.
—
Prompt
Wonderful. Now Let’s think less utilized by society. What are some more niche micro skills that you would want a person who you are tutoring to have. And this is given that you want them to be as successful as possible.
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Claude
Let me think deeply about valuable micro skills that are often overlooked but can create significant advantages in life...
Cold Reading & Behavioral Analysis
Understanding micro-expressions
Picking up on subtle vocal tone changes
Recognizing behavioral patterns in groups
Reading body language clusters rather than isolated gestures
This isn’t about manipulation, but rather developing deeper empathy and understanding
Would you like me to elaborate on any of these? I find them fascinating because they’re rarely taught explicitly yet can be transformative when mastered. I’m curious which ones resonate most with you?
These skills compound over time and create second-order advantages that aren’t immediately obvious to others. They’re also relatively timeless—they worked in ancient Athens and still work today.
I’m curious why you opted for Aristotle (albeit “modern”) as the prompt pre-load? Most of those responses seem not directly tethered to Aristotelian concepts/books or even what he directly posits as being the most important skills and faculties of human cognition. For example, cold reading, I don’t recall anything of the sort anywhere in any Aristotle I’ve read.
While we’re not sure Aristotle himself designed the layout of the corpus, we do know that in the Nicomachean Ethics lists the faculties of “whereby the soul attains Truth”:
Techne (Τεχνε) - which refers to conventional ways of achieving goals, i.e. without deliberation Episteme (Επιστήμε) - which is apodeiktike or the faculty of arguing from proofs Phronesis (Φρονέσις) - confusingly translated as “practical wisdom” this refers to the ability to deliberate to attain goals by means of deliberation. Excellence in phronesis is translated by the latinate word ‘Prudence’. Sofia (Σοφια) - often translated as ‘wisdom’ - Aristotle calls this the investigation of causes. Nous (Νους ) - which refers to the archai—or the ‘first principles’
According to Diogenes Laertius, the corpus (at least as it has come to us) divides into the practical books and the theoretical—the practical itself would be subdivided between the books on Techne (say Rhetoric and Poetics), and Phronesis (Ethics and Politics), the theoretical is then covered in works like the Metaphysics (which is probably not even a cohesive book, but a hodge-podge), Categories etc. etc.
This would appear to me to be a better guide for the timeless education in Aristotelian tradition and how we should guide a modern adaptation.
I asked for further details on the 10th point and Claude listed a bunch of stuff I’ve absolutely never heard of. I’d say it’s probably related to meditation if I had to guess. Here’s that.
—
Claude
Let me break down Time Perception Management into its deeper components, as this is one of the most subtle yet powerful micro-skills...
Understanding Psychological Time vs Clock Time
How different mental states alter time perception
Flow states can make hours feel like minutes
Anxiety can make minutes feel like hours
Learning to intentionally shift between time perspectives
When to use event-based time vs clock-based time
How to enter “timeless” states for creative work
Reading your internal clock
Understanding your natural rhythms
Recognizing when time perception is distorted by emotions
Managing Time Horizons
Developing multiple concurrent time frames
Thinking in day/month/year/decade simultaneously
Balancing immediate tasks with long-term vision
Time horizon switching
When to zoom out to years
When to zoom in to minutes
How to maintain strategic clarity while handling tactics
Future-self continuity
Techniques for making future consequences feel real
Building strong mental connections to your future self
Chronotype Optimization
Understanding your natural energy patterns
Peak creative hours
Peak analytical hours
Recovery periods
Designing your life around your chronotype
When to schedule different types of work
How to handle obligations that fight your natural rhythm
Seasonal adjustments
Adapting to changing daylight
Modifying routines for different seasons
Timeline Compression and Expansion Techniques
How to make time feel longer when needed
Breaking experiences into smaller chunks
Increasing novelty to slow perceived time
Using attention to expand moments
How to make time feel shorter when beneficial
Chunking similar tasks
Creating flow states
Using routine to speed through necessary tasks
Personal Tempo Awareness
Understanding your natural pace
Speaking tempo
Walking pace
Decision-making speed
Tempo matching and mismatching
When to match others’ tempo
When to intentionally mismatch
How to set the tempo in group situations
Rhythm management
Creating sustainable work rhythms
Building in recovery cycles
Recognizing when to speed up or slow down
Advanced Applications:
Using time perception in negotiations
Creating or relieving time pressure
Understanding how others perceive time
Memory engineering
Making good times feel longer in memory
Making difficult times feel shorter in memory
Social time management
Managing group time perception
Creating shared time experiences
Decision timing
Understanding when to decide quickly vs slowly
Recognizing optimal timing windows
This skill set is particularly valuable because most people are unconscious of how their time perception affects their decisions and experiences. Mastering it gives you significant advantages in:
Personal productivity
Emotional regulation
Strategic planning
Social influence
Life satisfaction
Would you like me to elaborate on any particular aspect? Or shall we explore how this connects with some of the other micro-skills we discussed?
I recently saw a tweet that asked GPT, what micro skills a person should master. I asked Claude a similar question, though had preloaded the conversation with “things a modern day Aristotle would teach a 24yo student”.
I think this is probably a valuable exercise to undertake yourself. I’m providing my prompt, and Claude’s response as an ‘appetiser’ to get you interested in this task.
—
—
Cold Reading & Behavioral Analysis
Understanding micro-expressions
Picking up on subtle vocal tone changes
Recognizing behavioral patterns in groups
Reading body language clusters rather than isolated gestures
This isn’t about manipulation, but rather developing deeper empathy and understanding
Strategic Silence & Information Management
Knowing when not to speak
Understanding information asymmetry
The power of selective disclosure
Using thoughtful pauses in conversation
The art of asking rather than telling
Scenario Planning & Secondary Consequence Analysis
Ability to see 3-4 moves ahead in decisions
Understanding cascade effects
Identifying hidden risks and opportunities
Planning for both success and failure scenarios
Recognition of system dynamics
Social Capital Accounting
Understanding relationship networks
Tracking favors and obligations implicitly
Building genuine reciprocity
Recognition of social momentum
Understanding status games without playing them
Energy Management & Recovery Tactics
Understanding personal energy patterns
Quick recovery techniques between intense tasks
Environmental design for optimal performance
Micro-rest optimization
State switching abilities
Pattern Recognition Across Domains
Transferring insights between unrelated fields
Spotting emerging trends early
Recognition of historical rhymes
Understanding cyclic behaviors
Identifying underlying principles
Meta-Learning Optimization
Learning how you specifically learn best
Creating personal knowledge management systems
Information synthesis techniques
Retention optimization
Skill transfer mechanisms
Probabilistic Thinking & Calibration
Understanding base rates
Recognizing cognitive biases in real-time
Bayesian updating in daily life
Risk assessment calibration
Decision journaling
Attention Direction & Management
Understanding attention as a finite resource
Strategic ignorance
Focus maintenance techniques
Context switching optimization
Signal-to-noise ratio improvement
Time Perception Management
Understanding psychological time vs clock time
Managing time horizons
Chronotype optimization
Timeline compression and expansion techniques
Personal tempo awareness
Would you like me to elaborate on any of these? I find them fascinating because they’re rarely taught explicitly yet can be transformative when mastered. I’m curious which ones resonate most with you?
These skills compound over time and create second-order advantages that aren’t immediately obvious to others. They’re also relatively timeless—they worked in ancient Athens and still work today.
I’m curious why you opted for Aristotle (albeit “modern”) as the prompt pre-load? Most of those responses seem not directly tethered to Aristotelian concepts/books or even what he directly posits as being the most important skills and faculties of human cognition. For example, cold reading, I don’t recall anything of the sort anywhere in any Aristotle I’ve read.
While we’re not sure Aristotle himself designed the layout of the corpus, we do know that in the Nicomachean Ethics lists the faculties of “whereby the soul attains Truth”:
Techne (Τεχνε) - which refers to conventional ways of achieving goals, i.e. without deliberation
Episteme (Επιστήμε) - which is apodeiktike or the faculty of arguing from proofs
Phronesis (Φρονέσις) - confusingly translated as “practical wisdom” this refers to the ability to deliberate to attain goals by means of deliberation. Excellence in phronesis is translated by the latinate word ‘Prudence’.
Sofia (Σοφια) - often translated as ‘wisdom’ - Aristotle calls this the investigation of causes.
Nous (Νους ) - which refers to the archai—or the ‘first principles’
According to Diogenes Laertius, the corpus (at least as it has come to us) divides into the practical books and the theoretical—the practical itself would be subdivided between the books on Techne (say Rhetoric and Poetics), and Phronesis (Ethics and Politics), the theoretical is then covered in works like the Metaphysics (which is probably not even a cohesive book, but a hodge-podge), Categories etc. etc.
This would appear to me to be a better guide for the timeless education in Aristotelian tradition and how we should guide a modern adaptation.
I asked for further details on the 10th point and Claude listed a bunch of stuff I’ve absolutely never heard of. I’d say it’s probably related to meditation if I had to guess. Here’s that.
—
Understanding Psychological Time vs Clock Time
How different mental states alter time perception
Flow states can make hours feel like minutes
Anxiety can make minutes feel like hours
Learning to intentionally shift between time perspectives
When to use event-based time vs clock-based time
How to enter “timeless” states for creative work
Reading your internal clock
Understanding your natural rhythms
Recognizing when time perception is distorted by emotions
Managing Time Horizons
Developing multiple concurrent time frames
Thinking in day/month/year/decade simultaneously
Balancing immediate tasks with long-term vision
Time horizon switching
When to zoom out to years
When to zoom in to minutes
How to maintain strategic clarity while handling tactics
Future-self continuity
Techniques for making future consequences feel real
Building strong mental connections to your future self
Chronotype Optimization
Understanding your natural energy patterns
Peak creative hours
Peak analytical hours
Recovery periods
Designing your life around your chronotype
When to schedule different types of work
How to handle obligations that fight your natural rhythm
Seasonal adjustments
Adapting to changing daylight
Modifying routines for different seasons
Timeline Compression and Expansion Techniques
How to make time feel longer when needed
Breaking experiences into smaller chunks
Increasing novelty to slow perceived time
Using attention to expand moments
How to make time feel shorter when beneficial
Chunking similar tasks
Creating flow states
Using routine to speed through necessary tasks
Personal Tempo Awareness
Understanding your natural pace
Speaking tempo
Walking pace
Decision-making speed
Tempo matching and mismatching
When to match others’ tempo
When to intentionally mismatch
How to set the tempo in group situations
Rhythm management
Creating sustainable work rhythms
Building in recovery cycles
Recognizing when to speed up or slow down
Advanced Applications:
Using time perception in negotiations
Creating or relieving time pressure
Understanding how others perceive time
Memory engineering
Making good times feel longer in memory
Making difficult times feel shorter in memory
Social time management
Managing group time perception
Creating shared time experiences
Decision timing
Understanding when to decide quickly vs slowly
Recognizing optimal timing windows
This skill set is particularly valuable because most people are unconscious of how their time perception affects their decisions and experiences. Mastering it gives you significant advantages in:
Personal productivity
Emotional regulation
Strategic planning
Social influence
Life satisfaction
Would you like me to elaborate on any particular aspect? Or shall we explore how this connects with some of the other micro-skills we discussed?