The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload

The human brain has evolved to hide from us those things we are not paying attention

neuroscientists are increasingly appreciating that consciousness is not an all-or-nothing state; rather, it is a continuum of different states. We say colloquially that this or that is happening in the subconscious mind as though it were a geographically separate part of the brain, somewhere down deep in a dank, dimly lit basement of the cranium. T

What led early researchers to think that language might be localized is that disruption to particular regions of the brain reliably caused loss of language functions. Think of the circuits in your home again. If your contractor accidentally cuts an electrical wire, you can lose electricity in an entire section of your home, but it doesn’t mean that

We evolved a specialized brain structure called the hippocampus just for remembering the spatial location of things. This was tremendously important throughout our evolutionary history for keeping track of where food and water could be found, not to mention the location of various dangers. The hippocampus is such an important center for place memor

But Buffett does not satisfice with his investment strategies; satisficing is a tool for not wasting time on things that are not your highest priority. For your high-priority endeavors, the old-fashioned pursuit of excellence remains the right strategy.

Imagine you are living in the year 1200. You probably have four or five siblings, and another four or five who died before their second birthday.

time of their bosses so that the boss knows that whatever is in front of her is the most important thing she could be doing right now. She doesn’t need to worry about projects or tasks that are going unattended, because the assistant is keeping track of them for her.

Decades of research have shown that human learning is influenced by context and by the location where the learning takes place. Students who studied for an exam in the room they later took it in did better than students who studied somewhere else. We go back to our childhood home after a long absence, and a flood of forgotten memories is released.

A third way we categorize is in conceptual categories that address particular situations.