Much of the value I get from math is not from detailed calculations or elaborate models, but rather from framing tools: tools which suggest useful questions to ask, approximations to make, what to pay attention to and what to ignore.

Each of these posts is meant to train/​practice one mathematical framing tool.

The structure is like a trigger-action pattern: the hard part is to notice a pattern, a place where a particular tool can apply (the “trigger”). Once we notice the pattern, it suggests certain questions or approximations (the “action”). Each of these posts contains a Challenge to ingrain the abstract trigger-pattern, and a Bonus Exercise to practice applying the actions.

The hope is that practicing these tools will help us notice useful frames for problems we don’t understand—i.e. problems where we don’t already know the best framing.