Tenet 2: No decision requires a dice roll you roll

A prerequisite of every decision is the choice to decide at all. In many cases, this meta decision proves to be the more impactful one.

The dice roll inherits its power from the intention behind rolling it. Dice rolling is not for every occasion. The primary goal of Dice Theory is to accelerate the journey towards radical growth. In some situations, growth is buoyed by randomness. In others, growth is propelled more from mitigating randomness. Sometimes growth in one direction leads to tradeoffs in other types of growth. We must be strategic about the choice to choose.

There are a few scenarios when it might be prudent to avoid rolling the dice:

1. There is a strong likelihood of regretting or reneging on a potential outcome. Especially in the early days of dice rolling, while you are still building trust and reinforcement loops, it is critically important not to callously roll the dice on a possible outcome that you will resist and fail to execute. You should not compromise Tenet 1.
2. The dice roll involves other people - we delve into more detail on third parties in Tenet 3.
3. There is a very clear objective at stake and the path towards achieving the objective is clear. For example, you want to learn a specific skill and learning that skill requires a dedicated plan with focused execution. It is likely more useful to avoid rolling dice and opt for informed decision hierarchies.

In order to build discernment power around dice rolling, we need to become more aware of our decision junctures broadly. We make decisions constantly, the majority of which fall below the consciousness threshold and are governed by instinct. Given that we cannot be real-time self-aware of time spent unaware, we starkly overestimate our capacity for self-awareness. External forces are required to correct deeply ingrained modalities around when to make an active decision. We need methods to train new habits. I try to keep a dice in my pocket at all times as a constant physical reminder to consider rolling it. The first app on my phone’s home screen is Dice for the same reason. Another way I like to train behavior around dice rolling is to designate dedicated “dice days” where my intention is to roll the dice on as many decisions as possible throughout a day.

Considering a potential dice roll more regularly invites us to consider decisions more thoughtfully in general. Given the potential for a randomly selected outcome, adrenaline rises with the hypothetical stakes. We’re forced to answer a new question - does the decision truly warrant deliberation? By default, we assume that every decision carries substantial weight, but the weight is applied by our own subjective sentiments. In some cases our feelings indicate valid justification for deliberate action, in which case the choice is clear and you should avoid rolling the dice. However, more often than not, they are superseded by the benefits of selective randomness. At minimum, awareness of the choice to choose encourages introspection of our value systems, adjudication frameworks, and doubts.

There are three types of decisions: Unconscious, Conscious, and Random. Unconscious decisions are piloted by habit, muscle memory, intuition, gut. These decisions are the most deterministic because they rely on self-contained, historically-mapped events. They are heavily influenced by the Past and they are a function of a live program within our bodies. Conscious decisions are inclusive of the same forces, but they additionally integrate contemplation of the Future. Given the active time spent thinking about these decisions, they also carry stronger feedback loops to inform future decisions, both unconscious or conscious. Conscious decisions are useful for accomplishing specific objectives, but these objectives are still sourced from and therefore limited by our Past. To expand the creative capacity of body and mind, we must make room for randomness as well. Random decisions transcend the time-scale and set new trajectories in motion. They have the capacity to stray us from what we want; they also have the capacity to reimagine what we want. Selectively random decisions combine all types of decision-making.

Growth implies a change of state from present to future. We experience a constant state of growth because life is in motion, outside of our control. There are also dynamics of internal growth within our control. These dynamics are naturally dictated by our unconscious decision-making, which creates a flat growth curve formed by the trend line of our Past. The curve is susceptible to changes by the outside world, but by default it is linear. Dice Theory encourages an intentional shift away from the hypnosis of unconscious decisions as a necessary means to discover radical growth. Active choice, including the choice to relinquish choice, provides us with the means to break from the linear progression and invite exponential change.

To grow radically, we must either deliberately leverage the dynamics of causality to our advantage through strategic decision-making or actively break the causal chain with randomness. We either clearly understand the steps required to accomplish a goal to circumvent the slower, default progression of unconscious decisions, or we leverage the ability for stochastic systems to fundamentally alter our place in time. No decision requires a dice roll, but in an ideal world every decision would be given the chance. By converting subconscious decisions into conscious decisions and subjecting them to either strategic games or random games, we inject the elixir of radical growth.

A dice roll values the faces it does not land on as much as it values the outcomes it selects for. You either need to be comfortable with every possible dice roll scenario or comfortable with conquering the discomfort you feel. If the discomfort compels a choice not to roll the dice, awareness of the discomfort is still a major victory. It is ok to look fear in the eyes and say “not yet”. What matters is that we expose ourselves to these demons regularly, to understand what they are, and to face them again.

Tenet 2: No decision requires a dice roll

Read Tenet 3