Key Messages
Unlocking The Secrets Of Worldly Wisdom: How To Think Like A Philosopher And Make Smart Decisions
Gabe Weinberg and Lauren McCaan’s Super Thinking Book provides the reader with hacks to help them think smarter.
One of their main strategies to increase cognition is to take a page from fourteenth-century philosopher’s playbooks when it comes to problem solving.
Doing this, as opposed to just knowing isolated facts, allows for a latticework of theory that can be used for improved understanding and decision making on everyday issues.
The authors also explore models from different disciplines like economics, physics, and philosophy in order to paint a picture of how to apply those concepts on our day-to-day lives.
Some examples include studying what an Israeli daycare center can teach us about reciprocity or learning why avoiding errors is more important than being right.
Overall, the book is designed to provide readers with all the necessary information they need in order to become smarter thinkers in this ever-changing world.
Discover A World Of Cognitive Shortcuts With Super Thinking
The concept of super thinking leverages tried-and-true concepts that are used to try to make sense of the world.
Those who understand and use these models, or mental pictures, are able to make better decisions on a daily basis.
These models have been proven over the years by experts in various industries and have withstood the tests of time.
The idea behind super thinking is to give us a better understanding of complex data that we face on a regular basis when it comes to making decisions.
It’s like having our own trusted advisor inside our heads – but much more reliable than relying on gut feelings alone!
By using super thinking, we can gain insight about anything from technological change and critical mass, to how ride-sharing services like Uber select their drivers.
With these mental models in place, we can take the complexity out of decisionmaking – allowing us to move quickly and confidently in any direction.
Super thinking can give us an edge in life that helps equip us with the knowledge and skill necessary for making sound choices no matter what situation arises.
Applying The ‘Inversion’ Method To Problem-Solving Can Make Life Much Easier
Avoiding unforced errors and thinking from first principles can help people be wrong less often.
That’s what Carl Jacobi, a 19th-century German mathematician had taught.
His maxim was to always invert, which means it is often easier to solve a problem taking an opposite or “inverse” point of view.
Investors usually presume their aim is to make money, but Jacobi would argue that it is actually to avoid losing money.
This same principle applies in decision making – common sense tells us being right more often is the purpose, while inverting this notion shows being wrong less often is key.
Unforced errors are mistakes caused by one’s own carelessness rather than someone else’s brilliance so avoiding them needs careful reasoning and attention to how it is done.
Argumentation from first principles includes acute epistemic arguments where one has to think from the base up analyzing the main “fundamental truths” as posed by entrepreneur Elon Musk who implemented this strategy when he wanted to fabricate battery packs for his self-driving vehicles at a more affordable cost than what others said wouldn’t be possible – Musk deconstructed the price per kilowatt-hour and ultimately saved money by directly buying the materials required.
It can also assist with commonplace tasks such as job hunting – map out your priorities before sending out your résumé, decide how far you’re willing to commute and list all nonnegotiables regarding positions you’ll accept.
Inversion helps by not asking which jobs are available but which ones fit into your criteria instead.
It Pays To Practice Simplicity: How Ockham’s Razor Can Help With Reasoning And Dating
If you’re looking for love, Ockham’s razor might just hold the key to your success.
That’s because this age-old principle suggests that when it comes to assumptions, we should keep things simple.
Ockham’s razor is a model which has been around for centuries and stands for “shaving away” unnecessary explanations or complex filters when searching for something.
When it comes to dating, this means that rather than adding innumerable checklist items as potential deal breakers, go back to basics and stick with the essential qualities you want in a partner.
We all know that compatibility is incredibly important but narrowing down Mr.
or Mrs Right too much by focusing on non-essential criteria greatly reduces the dating pool – making it harder to find a good match!
Putting Ockham’s razor into practice is an excellent way of avoiding common logical traps such as the famous ‘Linda story’ fallacy – where two facts are assumed capable of jointly ruling out other possibilities; remember, not all bank tellers are feminists!
So if you want your search for a soulmate to be successful (and who doesn’t?), use Ockham’s razor: trust simple filters and focus on core factors like laughter and attraction before jumping into specifics.
Just make sure those shared cultural preferences don’t completely change once your loved one gets their hands on the ice cream tub!
Re-Evaluating Your Assumptions And Putting Yourself Behind The Veil Of Ignorance To Foster Objectivity And Empathy
We all have a tendency to jump to conclusions when it comes to the intentions and motivations of others.
We may attribute our own behavior to external circumstances, while ascribing another person’s actions to essential characteristics.
This is known as a fundamental attribution error, which can lead us to form unfair beliefs and judgments about another person that can be hard to shake off.
One way to counteract this bias is by using Hanlon’s razor – never attributing malice what can easily be explained by carelessness.
By recognizing that your neighbor or colleague may not have deliberately set out to upset you, you are more likely to give them the benefit of the doubt.
But if you want a tool that helps you look at issues from a more objective standpoint, then you should consider the “Veil of Ignorance”.
Developed by American philosopher John Rawls in his book A Theory of Justice, this model states that if you had no knowledge about where you will end up in society, then your perspective on fairness would change.
In other words, the decision would take into account the feelings and interests of everyone involved – not just your own!
So if ever you need help making a fair and unbiased decision, try putting yourself behind the veil of ignorance.
It will help remind you that we’re all in this together and encourage compassionate decision-making!
Adopt The Experimental Mind-Set To Thrive In Today’S Changing Society
If you want to be successful in your social environment, you need to be able to adapt to changes and evolve with the times.
This is something that the story of the dark peppered moths teaches us.
Before the Industrial Revolution, most peppered moths were light-colored which allowed them to blend in on light tree bark.
But after a layer of soot from coal mines covered trees, it was the darker moths that succeeded and found their ways to safety.
Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest explains that it wasn’t necessarily the strongest or most intelligent moth that survived this change but rather those who could adapt and adjust quickly who thrived.
The same applies for people and organizations today; if you don’t stay up-to-date with changing ideas, tools and approaches, then you’ll get left behind by society.
It’s all about developing an experimental mind-set, observing what’s happening around you, testing different theories and analyzing data in order to make sure you’re adapting your lifestyle according to what works best for you.
Whether it be a certain diet or new way of learning or working – experiment with different things until you find out what works best for you!
The Dangerous Traps Of Anecdotal Evidence: How We Can Blindly Misinterpret Data
In today’s data-driven world, it can be easy to become overwhelmed with statistics, but it is important to remember just how difficult it is to accurately interpret them.
One of the common missteps we make when dealing with quantitative evidence is relying too heavily on anecdotal evidence and/or mistakenly believing that correlation implies causation.
Anecdotal evidence is derived from personal experience or hearsay, and while such partial data makes sense evolutionarily (i.e., if you’ve seen someone get sick after eating a berry, you will avoid that berry!), in far too many contexts, this kind of evidence leads to misinterpretation or over-generalization of a person’s individual experience.
Similarly, relying on the fallacy that because two events occur consecutively one must have caused the other can easily lead us astray when trying to come to meaningful conclusions based on statistical data.
Take for instance an example of people getting the flu shot – often there will be cases where someone gets a cold at the same time they receive their vaccination and this cold is then wrongly attributed as being caused by the shot itself.
What’s really at play here is a confounding factor – namely, more people tend to get vaccinated during times when colds are more frequent.
To avoid falling victim to errors like these it pays off in the long run to think carefully about what statistical data we are presented with and how likely our understanding could be skewed due Misinterpreting anecdotal evidence or mistakenly assuming correlation implies causation.
Pulling Back The Curtain: How Understanding Social And Market Norms Can Help Us Succeed In Life
Conflicts are commonly described as “social games” where both sides want to get the most out of any deal.
However, many times both parties can come out ahead if they understand and use social norms.
Reciprocity is an example of this kind of mutually beneficial act.
It’s a concept that is widely accepted in culture and it works by people doing favors for each other with the expectation that those favors will be returned.
The power of reciprocity can be seen in the study discussed in Robert Cialdini’s 1984 book Influence about waiters who gave small gifts resulting in increased tipping.
A simple after-dinner mint resulted in a 3% rise, but two mints took that to 14%.
After saying “And for you nice folks, an extra mint”, tips even tripled to 23%.
In some situations, however, confusion between social and market norms can have negative consequences when it comes to reciprocity.
An example of this happened at an Israeli kindergarten where fines were introduced for late parents, leading to more tardiness instead of less!
Parents had been feeling guilty and making an effort before, but introducing a market norm undermined this emotion and made them feel like they didn’t owe anything since they already paid fines.
It goes to show just how important it is to frame things right when dealing with conflicting interests.
When the violations of reciprocity become clear through incentives like monetary payments or fines, they may lead to unexpected outcomes since more than one factor favoritism has been eliminated from your equation.
Wrap Up
The Super Thinking Book contains a variety of helpful conceptual models to improve our decision-making process.
From Ockham’s Razor for selecting potential mates to the Veil of Ignorance to put ourselves in other people’s shoes, these models offer an organized way of approaching any problem.
One key piece of actionable advice from this book is to weigh your decisions by using a numbered pro-con list.
With this model, you assign values ranging from -10 to 10 for each factor, thus allowing you to conduct a systematic cost-benefit analysis before making a tough decision.
Overall, the Super Thinking Book offers insight into how we can sharpen our cognitive skills and make better decisions by utilizing tried-and-true conceptual models.
