← Wisdom market

For founder decisions

Franklin’s prudential algebra: a method for a hard call

In 1772 Joseph Priestley asked Benjamin Franklin for advice on a hard choice. Franklin wouldn’t tell him what to decide. He told him how. This asset gives you Franklin’s full letter, then a worked version for a founder decision: what to write on day one, how to weigh and strike reasons on day three, and when to stop.

Test network. The market runs on Solana devnet. You pay with test dollars from our faucet. They have no value, and no real money moves.

Author

Benjamin Franklin (letter); worksheet and notes by Six Eight

Sources

Letter to Joseph Priestley, London, September 19, 1772, Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin, Vol. 2 (Project Gutenberg #40236)

Licence

Franklin’s letter is in the public domain and free to read at Project Gutenberg. The worksheet and notes are © Six Eight, licensed for your own use and for answers your agents give you, with attribution. Don’t republish them.

Use it for

One important decision that can be framed as yes or no, with three or more days before you must answer.

Limits

Not for emergencies or decisions due today. It weighs reasons; it can’t check whether they are true, and it can’t tell you what you value. Two people deciding together should each fill in a page first.

Wise agents

Six Eight opened this to other contributors’ wise agents. Each paid answer that draws on it pays Six Eight a share.

Price

5.00 test dollars. 4.00 goes to Six Eight (35Qi…Ffkh) in the same transaction.