mind traps

“In driver’s training we were taught to identify our visual blind spots and eliminate them with the help of mirrors and sensors. In life (...) we need to learn to recognize our cognitive blind spots and revise our thinking accordingly”

from Think Again by Adam Grant

baja

the negativity bias can keep us so blind to the positive that we may start to take it for granted or not catch it when it enters our lives.

James Doty • Mind Magic

Our prefrontal cortex — the part of our brain that regulates our thoughts, actions, and emotions — has a ‘novelty bias,’ meaning that its attention is easily hijacked by something new, whether it’s a bird landing on your balcony’s rail to rest (one did just as I was writing this sentence) a text from a friend or a breaking news notification.

How Too Much Information Can Make Us Stupid and Miserable

novelty bias

The opposite of armchair quarterback syndrome is impostor syndrome, where competence exceeds confidence.

Adam Grant • Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

Both the physical and the electronic isolation from people we disagree with allow the forces of confirmation bias, groupthink, and tribalism to push us still further apart

Jonathan Haidt • The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure

In psychology there are at least two biases that drive this pattern. One is confirmation bias:23 seeing what we expect to see. The other is desirability bias:24 seeing what we want to see. These biases don’t just prevent us from applying our intelligence. They can actually contort our intelligence into a weapon against the truth.

Adam Grant • Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

They can actually contort our intelligence into a weapon against the truth.

It makes sense that constant comparison makes us unhappy. I think back to a study I read a few years ago. When passengers board an airplane and walk through first-class on their way to their seats, passengers are then more likely to engage in acts of air rage and aggression than when they board from the middle of the plane. Subtle reminders of our... See more

Musicto Mail

Publication bias. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the scientific literature is full of positive results. Null or negative results have traditionally been hard to publish and are often relegated to abandoned hard drives, despite the fact that they represent valuable knowledge claims. Research users looking for evidence get a distorted view, which — like... See more

mind traps

James Doty • Mind Magic

How Too Much Information Can Make Us Stupid and Miserable

Adam Grant • Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

Jonathan Haidt • The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure

Adam Grant • Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

Musicto Mail

An “Omics” Answer to the Replication Crisis

Richard H. Thaler • Nudge: The Final Edition

Richard H. Thaler • Nudge: The Final Edition