How to Think More Clearly—and Improve Your Life

By Jon Hersey

On the British sketch comedy show The Two Ronnies, a man walks into a shop and asks the clerk for “fork handles.” When the clerk gets him four candles, the man says, “No, fork handles—handles for forks!”¹ When the customer ambiguously asks, “Got any O’s?,” the clerk brings him a hoe. “No, O’s,” says the customer. “Oh, hose!,” says the clerk, and brings h…