Psychology

Table of Contents

Our brains are constantly surrounded by a ton of information — more than they can handle. So, to cope with that, our brain defaults to sensory gating where it filters our redundant or unnecessary stimuli in the brain from all possible environmental stimuli.

As a result, we form many cognitive biases that create a “subjective reality” regarding specific decisions and consequences.

Ideally, if we use our slow-thinking, analytical mind, we will recognize the illusion and convince ourselves not to trust our immediate instinct. However, day-to-day life isn’t as simple as two lines. We have biases that are hardwired which are not spotted through instinct. To spot the illusions and understand the second-order consequences, we need to actively take steps to not participate in acting on biased thoughts and faulty thinking.

TODO

  1. Hedonism is overrated – to make the best of life there must be pain, says this Yale professor https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/jan/23/hedonism-is-overrated-to-make-the-best-of-life-there-must-be-pain-says-yale-professor
  2. The Fundamental Attribution Error: Why Predicting Behavior is so Hard https://fs.blog/fundamental-attribution-error/
  3. How expectation influences perception https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/expectation-affects-perception/
  4. “Taking in the good”: A simple way to offset your brain’s negativity bias https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/rick-hanson-heal-method/
  5. How to give compliments and criticism for a happier work life https://bigthink.com/business/how-to-give-compliments-and-criticism-for-a-happier-work-life/
  6. The meaning of your life isn’t a puzzle to solve https://bigthink.com/smart-skills/the-meaning-of-life-isnt-a-puzzle-to-solve/
  7. The importance of intuition and the limits of rationalism https://bigthink.com/business/the-importance-of-intuition-and-the-limits-of-rationalism/
  8. The Andrew Mayne interview: How to succeed as a polymath https://bigthink.com/business/the-andrew-mayne-interview-how-to-succeed-as-a-polymath/
  9. Why memento mori is the ultimate life hack https://bigthink.com/smart-skills/memento-mori-life-hack/
  10. The Katie Gatti Tassin interview: “Go the extra yard — not the extra mile” https://bigthink.com/business/the-katie-gatti-tassin-interview-go-the-extra-yard-not-the-extra-mile/

Mindset needed for learning

  1. About parrhesia and dialectic
  2. Sincerity and Presence
  3. Knowledge starts with presence
  4. Quality over quantity
  5. Knowledge, or a means of learning is key to emancipate yourself from your own inadequacies
  6. Don’t get fooled or conned again — here are the 5 tactics to look out for
  7. The nature of Truth and Reality
  8. What Know-It-Alls Don’t Know, or the Illusion of Competence
  9. Dunning-Kruger effect
  10. The Baloney Detection Kit
  11. Book - Letters to a Young Contrarian
  12. Müller-Lyer illusion

How people fool others/themselves?

  1. Biases
  2. Fallacies
  3. Fooling or Conning techniques
  4. How Conspiracy theories work
  5. False consensus effect
  6. Einstein didn’t say that: How viral misquotes evolve and replicate

Mental strength

  1. 5 Things You Can Do To Become More Attractive
  2. Mental Strength and Relaxed Confidence

Happiness

  1. There is more to life than being happy
  2. The happiness ruse

Well-being

  1. How not to take things personally
  2. Some Ways To Kill The Toxic Ego That Will Ruin Your Life
  3. Rest Takes Hard Work
  4. Hindrances to self mastery

Stress

  1. Gratitude - A Surprising Way to Reduce Stress
  2. How to be good at stress
  3. Stop Spending So Much Time In Your Head
  4. Stop Spending Time on Things You Hate
  5. Surprising Ways to Beat Anxiety and Become Mentally Strong–According to Science
  6. Why Breathing Is So Effective at Reducing Stress
  7. How pottering about in the garden creates a time warp

Tags

  1. Iris Marion Young’s birdcage metaphor
  2. Book - The Power of Positive Thinking
  3. Book - Thinking Fast and Slow
  4. Emotional Intelligence
  5. Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs
  6. Occam’s razor
  7. Parkinson’s law and the importance of setting strict deadlines
  8. Parkinson’s law of triviality (bikeshedding)
  9. Personality Traits
  10. Make better decisions by understanding The Neuroscience Behind Bad Decisions
  11. Imposter Syndrome
  12. The enemy effect
  13. Tall poppy syndrome
  14. The joy of Mastery
  15. The Soul-Expanding Value of Difficulty
  16. How to use your regrets for good?
  17. Smart People Do Foolish Things
  18. Stupid Advice - You will Never Be Rich Working for Somebody Else
  19. Carl Sagan on Moving Beyond Us vs Them
  20. In your own time - how to live for today the philosophical way
  21. Why It Pays to Be Grumpy and Bad-Tempered
  22. The Worst Advice I Ever Received Was - Follow Your Passion
  23. Don’t Surround Yourself With Admirers

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