Mastermind

Inertia is a powerful force. We are creatures of habit—and not just observable habits, such as, for instance, always putting on the TV when we walk into our living room after work,

(Interesting fact: we get better at solving insight problems when we are tired or intoxicated. Why? Our executive function is inhibited, so information that would normally be deemed distracting is allowed to filter in. We thus become better at seeing remote associations.)

The older adults are often far more motivated to perform well. They try harder. They engage more. They are more serious, more present, more involved. To them, the performance matters a great deal. It says something about their mental capabilities—and they are out to prove that they haven’t lost the touch as they’ve aged. Not so younger adults. Ther

He took System Watson and taught it to operate by the rules of System Holmes, imposing reflective thought where there should rightly be reflexive reaction.

Adults are more likely to judge one-sided arguments as superior to those that present both sides of a case, and more likely to think that such arguments represent good thinking.

He will also be susceptible to the classic correspondence bias: everything negative about Mary will be seen as a result of external circumstances—stress, strain, bad luck, whatever it may be—and everything positive of her character.

Study after study shows that individuals who are motivated correct more naturally—and more correctly, so to speak—than those who are not.

you can’t tap into the benefits when they are working for you (as can happen if you activate positively associated stereotypes).

Watson serves as a constant reminder of what errors are possible. As Holmes puts it, “In noting your fallacies I was occasionally guided towards the truth.” And that is no small thing. Even in asking the smallest questions, ones that seem entirely obvious to Holmes, Watson nevertheless forces Holmes to look twice at the very obviousness of the thin