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

crystalhen

people are extremely bad at discussing the changes or gaps in their consciousness.

Erik Hoel • The egregore passes you by

Part of the problem is cognitive laziness. Some psychologists point out that we’re mental misers:10 we often prefer the ease of hanging on to old views over the difficulty of grappling with new ones.

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

Another aspect of the unconscious is that it will always seek out the path of least resistance.

Dr. Matthew B. James • Integrate the Shadow, Master Your Path

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

My favorite bias is the “I’m not biased”25 bias, in which people believe they’re more objective than others. It turns out that smart people are more likely to fall into this trap.26

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

companies have a strong incentive to exploit behavioral biases, including availability, unrealistic optimism, and anchoring.

Richard H. Thaler • Nudge: The Final Edition

anchoring

The urge to blame is based . . . on the fear of being blamed

Sheila Heen • Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most

We are currently trapped in the illusion of growth. The belief that all businesses should grow indefinitely. To expand their business, profits, and workforce… Everything in nature is circular, so there’s nothing natural about this growth craze.

Angelos Arnis • Designing for the last earth

A Rube Goldberg machine , named after American cartoonist Rube Goldberg, is a chain reaction–type machine or contraption intentionally designed to perform a simple task in an indirect and (impractically) overly complicated way.