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

“You develop an instant global consciousness . . . an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it,” Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell reflected.

When I asked him how he stays in that mode, he said he refuses to let his beliefs become part of his identity.

When a trio of psychologists conducted a comprehensive review of thirty-three studies, they found that in every one, the majority of answer revisions were from wrong to right. This phenomenon is known as the first-instinct fallacy.

Great listeners are more interested in making their audiences feel smart. They help people approach their own views with more humility, doubt, and curiosity. When people have a chance to express themselves out loud, they often discover new thoughts.

If they’re not invested in the issue or they’re receptive to our perspective, more reasons can help: people tend to see quantity as a sign of quality. The more the topic matters to them, the more the quality of reasons matters.

Dodge didn’t survive as a result of thinking slower. He made it out alive thanks to his ability to rethink the situation faster.

Every time you encounter new information, you have a choice. You can attach your opinions to your identity and stand your ground in the stubbornness of preaching and prosecuting. Or you can operate more like a scientist, defining yourself as a person committed

They ended up calling her Megu, which translates literally to “mother” and is also a term of endearment for elders.

“My attachment to my ideas is provisional. There’s no unconditional love for them.”