14 Uncomfortable Truths About Human Psychology - Gurwinder Bhogal
04 Jul 2024 (2 months ago)
False Consensus Effect
- People tend to assume that others are like them and share their beliefs and behaviors.
- This can lead to misjudgments and misunderstandings.
- It's important to recognize that our own experiences and perspectives shape our perceptions of the world.
- Questioning our own assumptions and considering alternative viewpoints can help us gain a more accurate understanding of situations.
- People tend to attribute their own failures to external circumstances, but the failures of others to their character.
- This bias can lead to unfair judgments and misunderstandings.
- It's important to recognize that our own motivations and behaviors are not necessarily representative of others.
- Considering the broader context and individual differences can help us make more balanced judgments.
Freudian’s Paradox
- Decision fatigue and anxiety can result from the overwhelming number of choices available today.
- To combat this, use decision-making heuristics like choosing the more immediately painful option or defaulting to "no" when undecided.
- Taking action towards a decision is more effective than just creating a mental commitment.
- Adopting a minimalist approach in unimportant decisions can save time and energy, as demonstrated by Steve Jobs, Barack Obama, and Mark Zuckerberg.
- Routine and asynchronous communication can help reduce decision fatigue.
- Delaying decisions can make them harder and create more work.
- While most decisions don't matter much, a few important ones are worth spending more time on.
- University decisions should not be treated as mere tasks on a to-do list, as they require proper consideration and effort.
The Narcissist’s Bedpost
- People who frequently use "I" and "me" when discussing non-personal topics may be self-centered or narcissistic.
- Social media culture encourages self-presentation and a "me" culture, leading to people trying to appear clever and charismatic in conversations.
- The number of times someone uses "I" and "me" in a conversation can indicate self-centeredness or a desire for attention.
- True charisma lies in the ability to make others feel interesting and generate new ideas in conversations, rather than just being outgoing and gregarious.
- Asking good questions and making others feel interesting can be more effective than traditional charisma.
Enthymeme
- Propagandists often use indirect methods, such as making statements that assume a lie as a premise, to convince people of a falsehood.
- Politicians may use important issues as a "Trojan horse" to disseminate propaganda, such as criticizing banks while discussing the economy.
- Indirect propaganda can be more effective than direct messaging because people are less likely to be wary of it.
- Widespread conspiracism often relies on tacit assumptions about the world, such as the existence of a "New World Order" or "deep state."
- People may conform to blatantly wrong information due to social pressure and the desire to avoid being the odd one out, as demonstrated in the Asch Conformity experiments.
- Enthymeme, a rhetorical device where one premise is left unstated, can make arguments seem more obvious and difficult to question, which politicians often use to their advantage.
- Focusing on output rather than outcome can lead to empty rhetoric and a lack of actual change, as seen in the UK government's emphasis on communication over action.
Post-Journalism
- The internet democratized information, leading to the decline of the press's monopoly on news and prompting them to shift from journalism to tribalism, confirming readers' beliefs rather than informing them.
- The media became more biased as the internet reduced their sales and power, leading to changes in their strategies, such as the New York Times presenting news in a slanted and narrative-driven manner.
- The press's focus on narratives and personification of events and ideologies blurs the line between fact and fiction, potentially misleading readers.
- Complex ideas are often simplified into gossip and drama to make them more accessible and engaging to a wider audience, employing literary devices such as twists, poetic justice, and irony.
- Non-fiction works presented in a story-like manner, such as Morgan Housel's books, are more easily retained and widely read than purely factual accounts.
- To effectively communicate truths, it may be necessary to present them in a slightly dramatized or embellished manner, as people are more likely to engage with and remember information presented in a narrative format.
- When creating online content, there's a balance between creating tasteful and engaging titles and thumbnails to attract attention without compromising personal values.
Fiction Lag
- Fiction lag: When captivated by a work of fiction, people unconsciously adopt the traits of their favorite characters.
- Narrative persuasion: People are more likely to be persuaded by stories than by statistics.
- Compassion fade: People are more likely to be moved by the suffering of a single individual than by the suffering of a large group of people.
- Post-journalism: A form of journalism that uses tribalism and narrative to create a sense of "us versus them".
- Mimetic nature: Humans are mimetic beings, meaning we take bits and pieces from others and assemble them into the character we choose to become.
- Story vulnerability: We are vulnerable to stories and can become emotionally invested in them, even though we know they are not real.
- Evolutionary spandrel: Our affinity for stories is likely an evolutionary spandrel, a byproduct of evolution that is not adaptive.
- Storytelling tradition: The oral tradition of storytelling has existed for much longer than the written word, which has only been commonplace for about 500 years.
- Mythology and moral lessons: Mythology often provides moral lessons about who we should be and the consequences of our actions.
- Fictional consequences: Humans tend to associate fictional stories with reality, especially when it comes to understanding the consequences of certain actions or character traits.
- Nemesis and fate: The concept of "Nemesis" in ancient Greek mythology, where mortals faced judgment from the gods for their actions, is similar to how fate, chance, or destiny is presented in modern movies.
- Primal brain association: Our primal hunter-gatherer brains associate these fictional consequences with reality due to our tendency to learn from observing others.
The Golden Mean
- Movie characters often display exaggerated traits and are not realistic role models.
- To achieve success and charisma, moderation in all things is key, as excessive pursuit of any attribute can become a weakness.
- Aristotle's concept of the "golden mean" emphasizes avoiding extremes and finding balance.
- The "maxing" culture can be detrimental, leading to missed opportunities for enjoyment and fulfillment in life.
- Brian Johnson's extreme health routine may be counterproductive, sacrificing life's pleasures for potential longevity gains.
- People tend to exhibit extreme psychological traits, like Alex Hosie's intense focus or Brian's more balanced approach.
- Aligning actions with what truly brings pleasure is crucial, rather than pursuing external goals that may not fulfill.
- Finding balance is challenging, as extremes like strict dieting or overindulgence are easier to maintain.
- Setting limits and periodizing intense focus with relaxation periods can help achieve a well-balanced life.
- Planning is essential to avoid getting carried away by obsessions and maintain a balanced approach.
- To limit excessive internet or social media use, set specific goals and limit online time.
- Stoicism can help manage emotions and avoid excessive compassion or anger by distinguishing between controllable and uncontrollable factors.
- Controlling emotions requires self-discipline and training to detach from negative stimuli.
- Different strategies work for different individuals in limiting emotions and desires, so finding a personalized approach is crucial.
- Slowing down reactions and creating a pause before responding can help manage emotions and avoid impulsive actions.
- To deal with uncomfortable truths about human psychology, create distance by viewing situations from different perspectives.
- Negative comments or opinions from others may not be directed at you personally but at a caricature they have created in their minds.
Tarswell’s Razor
- Emotion causes bias but also motivation.
- Don't trust thoughts while emotional, pause and wait for the feeling to pass before acting.
- Emotions are alarm systems that alert you to something.
- Anger is an obsolete instinct as a police force since we now have a legal system.
- Understanding why emotions exist allows you to create distance between yourself and the feeling.
- People can be divided into those who can't stop listening to their emotions and those who don't know how to or don't respect them.
- Finding a balance between excess and scarcity of emotion is important.
Package-Deal Ethics
- People often adopt packages of beliefs rather than analyzing each belief individually due to limited cognitive resources.
- These packages of beliefs provide individuals with a sense of belonging and identity within a group.
- Inconsistent beliefs within one's package of beliefs can lead to ostracism or pressure to conform from the group.
- People who hold non-typical beliefs and pay a high price for them, such as being criticized by both the left and the right, are likely to be genuine in their beliefs.
- Examples of people who have been ideologically spit roasted include Sam Harris, Claire Lehmann, Bill Maher, and Scott Galloway.
Rothbard’s Law
- People tend to focus on improving their weaknesses rather than their strengths because they assume that their natural abilities are not special.
- The False Consensus Effect leads people to believe that their experiences and abilities are more common than they actually are, making it difficult for them to recognize their true talents.
- Feedback from others can help individuals identify their strengths and talents, as they may not be apparent from their own perspective.
- Focusing on what interests you can be a good way to discover your talents, as you're more likely to put in the time and effort to become good at it.
- Geniuses are often born from a narrow obsession and spending their lives thinking about it.
Champion Bias
- Losers often provide better advice than winners because they regretfully dwell on their mistakes, leading to deeper introspection and understanding.
- People tend to misjudge their abilities, overestimating weaknesses and underestimating strengths, which can lead to misconceptions about their success.
- Successful people rarely question their success, while failures prompt regret and introspection, providing valuable insights into why things went wrong.
- Identifying the reasons for failure is easier than understanding success, and avoiding pitfalls is more crucial than expediting success.
- The key to success lies in consistency and avoiding mistakes rather than seeking hidden formulas.
- True wisdom comes from recognizing and learning from mistakes, as there are numerous paths to failure but limited paths to success.
- Avoiding critical mistakes is paramount, as even one significant error can nullify all other efforts, making it more important than simply avoiding certain mathematical errors.
Anchored to Your Own History Bias
- Our personal experiences shape our perception of the world but only represent a small fraction of history.
- Different generations have varying economic experiences, leading to diverse dispositions, worldviews, and political preferences.
- Our political views are influenced by our life experiences and contemporary economic and geopolitical conditions, which are anomalies in the grand scheme of history.
- The limited span of economic data (a few hundred years) hinders our ability to accurately predict long-term economic trends.
- To broaden our perspectives, we should seek out information from people with vastly different life experiences, both in terms of time and location.
- Consuming content solely from one's own time and culture creates a blind spot and limits understanding.
- To overcome the False Consensus Effect, it is essential to consume content from diverse time periods and civilizations.
- Watching news from international sources, such as Chinese, Russian, and Indian news stations, offers fresh perspectives and insights into different cultural viewpoints.
Common Knowledge Effect
- Diverse teams do not always make better decisions than homogeneous teams.
- Teams often rely on consensus rather than utilizing individual expertise, which can be detrimental to decision-making.
- Diversity can be beneficial in one-on-one conversations but not necessarily in group decision-making due to the common knowledge effect.
- Social dynamics within diverse teams can lead to conformity, uncertainty, and the formation of social hierarchies.
- Multiculturalism has faced challenges and is increasingly viewed as a failure in places like London.
- In the US, the issue of diversity is more abstract, with people generally disliking the idea of dilution but not experiencing its direct consequences.
- British people are experiencing the negative effects of diversity more directly and are starting to discuss its impact on small groups, workplaces, and entire nationalities.
Where to Find Gurwinder
- Gurwinder is working on a book and will publish it on his Substack blog.
- He is active on Twitter and plans to set up a YouTube channel in the future.
- He advises against focusing on things one is not good at (Rothbard's law) and suggests sticking to writing until the book is done.
- Confirmation bias: We tend to seek out information that confirms our existing beliefs and ignore information that contradicts them.
- Hindsight bias: We tend to believe that we could have predicted events after they have already happened.
- Illusion of control: We tend to believe that we have more control over events than we actually do.
- Self-serving bias: We tend to attribute our successes to our own abilities and our failures to external factors.
- Groupthink: We tend to conform to the opinions of the group we are in, even if we know they are wrong.
- Just-world hypothesis: We tend to believe that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people.
- Negativity bias: We tend to pay more attention to negative information than positive information.
- Dunning-Kruger effect: We tend to overestimate our own abilities and underestimate the abilities of others.
- Self-handicapping: We tend to create obstacles for ourselves in order to have an excuse for failure.
- Procrastination: We tend to put off tasks that we find difficult or unpleasant.
- Social loafing: We tend to put less effort into tasks when we are working in a group than when we are working alone.
- Bystander effect: We tend to be less likely to help someone in need if there are other people present.
- Fundamental attribution error: We tend to attribute the behavior of others to their personality rather than to their situation.
- Self-fulfilling prophecy: We tend to create the reality that we expect.