1. Dopamine Culture
“Every kind of organized distraction tends to become progressively more and more imbecile.” — Aldous HuxleyThe delay between desire & gratification is shrinking. Pleasure is increasingly more instant & effortless. Everything is becoming a drug. What will it do to us?
“Everyone driving slower than you is an idiot and everyone driving faster than you is a maniac.” — George CarlinOur model of the world assumes people are like us. We don’t just do whatever we consider normal, we also consider normal whatever we do.
3. Fredkin's Paradox
The more similar two choices seem, the less the decision should matter, yet the harder it is to choose between them. As a result, we often spend the most time on the decisions that matter least.
To avoid being paralyzed by meaningless choices, use decision-making heuristics.
4. Package-Deal Ethics
“If I can predict all of your beliefs from one of your beliefs, you’re not a serious thinker.” — Chris WilliamsonBeing pro-choice and being pro-gun-control don’t necessarily follow from each other, yet those who believe one usually also believe the other. This is because most people don’t choose beliefs individually but subscribe to “packages” of beliefs offered by a tribe.
5. Ovsiankina Effect (aka Hemingway Effect)
We have an intrinsic need to finish what we’ve started. Exploit this by taking your breaks mid-task; the incompleteness will gnaw at you, increasing your motivation to return to work. (When writing, I end each day mid-sentence because it (...)
11. Noble Cause Corruption
The greatest evils come not from people seeking to do evil, but people seeking to do good and believing the ends justify the means. Everyone who was on the wrong side of history believed they were on the right side.
Grey Rock Method
Reacting emotionally to narcissists and other toxic people only gives them what they want — your time & energy — which encourages further abuse. If you want to stop receiving provocations, stop being provoked. When the narcissist realizes they can’t manipulate your emotions, they’ll stop trying. (...)
14. Postjournalism
The press lost its monopoly on news when the internet democratized info. To save its business model, it pivoted from journalism into tribalism. The new role of the press is not to inform its readers but to confirm what they already believe.
15. Adams’ 25% rule (aka Skill-Stacking)
Instead of trying to be the best at one thing, try to be "merely" great at two things and then learn to combine them. Not only is this easier, but it will make your skillset more unique, cutting out the competition.
16. Backwards Law
The more you pursue happiness, the less likely you are to obtain it, because the focus on acquiring it only reinforces the fact that you don’t have it. Ironically, happiness comes easiest to those who don’t worry about it.
“Happiness is like a butterfly, the more you chase it, the more it will evade you, but if you notice the other things around you, it will gently come and sit on your shoulder.”
― Henry David Thoreau (...)
Hitchens' Razor
“What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
If you make a claim, it's up to you to prove it, not to me to disprove it.
Cached Thoughts
Most of your beliefs were formed earlier in your life, when you were naiver. You continue to believe them only because you’ve never reconsidered them. When you’re about to offer an opinion, consider when you formed it, and ask: is it really your belief, or your younger self’s?
by Gurwinder, The Prism | Read more:
Image: uncredited
