applying the general to the specific

the ability/practise of applying more general advice to a specific scenario, or gaining specific value from a situation based on the specifics of your own position/perspective/context

applying a template, blueprint, set of instructions, advice, etc to your own situation is a really valuable skill - modifying based on resources and requirements is a hugely important part of resilience and adaptivity.

one of the many reasons to be wary of LLMs - auto-applying templates without awareness of the context of use means often applying them wrong/unhelpfully/dangerously. it is impossible and undesirable for an LLM to hold your entire context - local models are better, but still cannot account for your embodied experience

Mentions

Section titled “Mentions”
  • ” […] Aristotle described practical wisdom. Phronesis is based on a recognition of one’s ability to read individual situations correctly by drawing on previous experience and enhancing this reading in light of each particular situation that one confronts in day-to-day life (Hughes, 2001, pp. 87)” (Smolicki, 2017)
  • “the art of attending to “particulars” as opposed to “universals” (Hughes, 2001, pp .100).” ⤴️