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title: No unforced errors
modified: 2026-06-27
tags: []
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= 非受迫性失誤

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不要犯蠢：Reduce standard stupidities. Avoid idiotic behavior. [^1]

> “All I want to know is where I’m going to die, so I’ll never go there.” — Charlie Munger

> “It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.”— Charlie Munger [^2] [^3]

> “I just try to avoid being stupid. I have a way of handling a lot of problems—I put them in what I call my ‘too hard pile,’ and just leave them there. I’m not trying to succeed in my too hard pile.” — Charlie Munger [^4]

* If you can’t do something smart, just don’t do something dumb.
* Avoiding stupidity is easier than seeking brilliance.

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> 不要想著贏、要想不能輸。
> — 電影《KANO》

不輸才是贏，少輸也是贏。

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By identifying what we want to _avoid_, we often gain clearer insight into what we should actually _do_. The negative space defines the positive space.

# Examples

* **Investing**: Instead of “How do I pick winning stocks?”, ask “How do I avoid losing money?”
* **Product Design**: Instead of “What features should I add?”, ask “What would make users hate this product?”
* **Health & Fitness**: Instead of “How do I get in shape?”, ask “What habits would guarantee I stay unhealthy?”
* **Decision-Making**: Before committing to a major choice, run a _[premortem](premortem.md)_: imagine it is a year later and the decision has failed catastrophically — what went wrong?

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| Instead of asking…                   | Ask…                                        |
| ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------- |
| How do I achieve X?                  | What would guarantee failure?               |
| How do I win?                        | How do I ensure I don’t lose?               |
| How do I get rich?                   | What would guarantee I go broke?            |
| How do I be productive?              | What would make me completely unproductive? |
| How do I build a great relationship? | What would ruin a relationship?             |
| How do I find happiness?             | What would make me miserable?               |
| How do I stay healthy?               | What would destroy my health?               |

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[Invert, always invert](invert-always-invert.md)

[^1]: It’s very difficult to be smart, but it’s surprisingly easy to be “non-idiotic”.
[^2]: _“The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.” — Sherlock Holmes_
[^3]: _“A genius is the man who can do the average thing when everyone else around him is losing his mind.” — Napoleon_
[^4]: [Sometimes success is just about avoiding failure and](https://fs.blog/avoid-bad-decisions/) [making bad decisions.](decision-making.md)