Thinking About Thinking
Indy Neogy and
Thinking About Thinking
like Fran Lebowitz said “words are easy, books are not.”
If you did a lot of maths at school you are used to being given problems of the first type, and when you see a problem you want to find the analytic solution. It’s a good instinct, since analytic solutions are efficient. As long as you have the right method you can quickly reach an exact answer.
Lots of being smart is working out when you’re... See more
Lots of being smart is working out when you’re... See more
Tom Stafford • Complex Problems and the Rush to Judgement
Intelligence Evolved at Least Twice in Vertebrate Animals | Quanta Magazine
Yasemin Saplakogluquantamagazine.org
("JP") and
This advice may sound familiar; it lies at the heart of books like Blink and Gary Klein’s The Power of Intuition, which promise to help readers harness their gut feelings. But for executives taught to methodically frame problems, consider alternatives, collect data, weigh the options, and then decide, cultivating emotional self-awareness may seem... See more
Gardiner Morse • Decisions and Desire
The metaphors we use shape how we view the world. Is the brain like a computer? Maybe, as Gurwinder says, the brain is the opposite: a machine that tries to circumvent thinking . Cognition costs time, and in a society that is information-rich and time-poor, people will use shortcuts to make decisions - feelings, aesthetics, environment,... See more
sari azout • Things I'm thinking about
No! The brain doesn't seek to circumvent thinking, this misunderstands the optimisation that goes on. The brain seeks to circumvent (where possible) computation - because computation is not only inefficient, but very often ineffective. Incidentally, beware of writers who decide they are PCs and you are an NPC.
Everyone belongs to a tribe and underestimates how influential that tribe is on their thinking. There is little correlation between climate change denial and scientific literacy. But there is a strong correlation between climate change denial and political affiliation. That’s an extreme example, but everyone has views persuaded by identity over... See more
collabfund.com • Ideas That Changed My Life
sari and
One pattern I’ve noticed in all miserable people:
They overthink and underact.
The system I use to escape the cold, dark prison of overthinking:
Taylin John Simmondsx.comexcellent thread
What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.
-Neil Postman, 2005