Every day comes with a lesson of its own. We learn something new ever with whatever life brings. And whatever life fails to teach, social media is there to do the needful.
Recently, a Twitter ‘megathread’ is doing rounds on social media that has 40 tweets in all. A Twitter user has attempted to summarise some of the most important concepts of life in a thread that will take you 7 minutes to read.
Terms like Rolestorming, Digital Detox, Nova Effect, and many others have been explained in the most relatable way.
Posted just a week back, the tweet has received more than 43k likes and 11k re-tweets. People have been relating to the post a lot.
My friends, a new MEGATHREAD has arrived!
In 40 tweets I’ll explain 40 useful concepts you should know.
Reading time: ~7 minutes.
Value: a lifetime.Thread:
— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) July 8, 2022
2. Procrastivity
We often avoid work by doing something else that feels productive so we don’t feel guilty. For example, endlessly researching productivity hacks instead of actually being productive. Beware that your brain can justify procrastination by disguising it as progress.— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) July 8, 2022
4. Solomon’s Paradox:
We’re better at solving other people’s problems than our own, because detachment yields objectivity. But Kross et al (2014) found viewing oneself in the 3rd person yields the same detachment, so when trying to help yourself, imagine you’re helping a friend.— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) July 8, 2022
6. Kurtosis Risk:
“More people are killed by bees than terrorists, so why do we spend so much fighting terrorism?”The answer is that death rates =/= risk. The most a bee can do is kill a person. The most a terrorist can do is nuke a city. Current rates ignore future potential.
— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) July 8, 2022
8. False Consensus Effect:
We assume everyone is like us, so our beliefs about others are derived from our knowledge of ourselves. Predictions of others’ behavior often tell us more about the predictor, and accusations often tell us more about the accuser.— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) July 8, 2022
10. Permission Structure:
People don’t want to change their mind for fear of looking stupid, so give them a way to change without looking stupid. E.g. instead of simply telling someone they’re wrong, tell them you thought like them but had your mind changed by new information.— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) July 8, 2022
12. Granfalloon:
We categorize people into meaningless groups: the physics “community,” the black “community.” The people in these “communities” often have little in common, but we treat them like they think with one mind, and shockingly, some even claim to speak for them.— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) July 8, 2022
14. Rolestorming:
Having trouble being creative? Then pretend you’re someone else, maybe Winston Churchill, or Lady Gaga, or Yoda. Continue to do your work while roleplaying as that person, imagining how they’d do your job. Enable you to think outside the box, this will.— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) July 8, 2022
16. Semantic Apocalypse:
In the digital age, we all live in subcultures. Society is no longer bound by a shared set of beliefs. All that unites us is our common biology: our fears & hungers. We’ve created a civilization organized around nothing but our shared animality.— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) July 8, 2022
18. Selective Laziness:
We’re critical of other’s arguments but not our own. Trouche et al (2016) found that showing people their own claims disguised as another’s led them to reject the claims.To know what you really think about your beliefs, imagine they’re someone else’s.
— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) July 8, 2022
20. Ad Hoc Rescue:
We grow so attached to our beliefs that we begin to defend them like lawyers defending clients, using every trick we can to find loopholes that’ll allow us to keep believing. As @PTetlock said: “Beliefs are hypotheses to be tested, not treasures to be guarded.”— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) July 8, 2022
22. Alder’s Razor:
If something can’t be settled by experiment or observation, it’s probably not worthy of debate. This is because, without empirical evidence, there is just “your word against mine,” and everyone wants the last word.Following this rule will save so much time.
— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) July 8, 2022
24. The Never-Ending Now:
We’re forever chasing what’s new, ignoring anything older than 24 hrs, such as the accumulated wisdom of human history. We think the best info is the most recent, but often it’s the oldest, because this has withstood the test of time.h/t: @david_perell
— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) July 8, 2022
26. Maslow’s Hammer:
People disproportionately rely on what they understand to explain what they don’t, so beware of the intellectual who’s just published a new book, as they’ll try to apply the book’s ideas to *everything*.— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) July 8, 2022
28. Okrent’s Law:
We all know how biased journalists can be, but even those who attempt to be objective can spread misinformation, because the attempt to be even-handed often leads journalists to treat wrong opinions with more respect than they deserve.— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) July 8, 2022
30. Gurwinder’s Theory of Bespoke Bullshit:
Many don’t have an opinion until they’re asked for it, at which point they cobble together a viewpoint from whim & half-remembered hearsay, before deciding that this 2-minute-old makeshift opinion will be their new hill to die on.— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) July 8, 2022
32. Anattā:
There’s nothing constant about a person. Habits are picked up & dropped. Beliefs asserted & refuted. Dreams forged & shattered. Passions ignited & extinguished. The self is a work-in-progress being constantly rewritten.And yet we’re all judged as if we’re final.
— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) July 8, 2022
34. True-Believer Syndrome:
We often continue to believe something after it’s been debunked, because belief is shaped not just by what we think is true, but also by what we’d prefer was true. To overcome this, always subtract your desire to believe from the available evidence.— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) July 8, 2022
36. Nova Effect:
You may think losing your job is bad, but what if staying at your job would’ve led to you dying in a fire? You can’t truly know if an outcome is good or bad, because fortune can lead to misfortune and vice versa. So don’t be quick to judge the cards you’re dealt.— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) July 8, 2022
38. Attention Economy:
The world is competing for your attention. Therefore, your attention has value like real currency, and should be treated as such. Ask yourself, what are you wasting attention on, and where would investing it yield the best return?— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) July 8, 2022
40. Regret Minimization:
Somewhere in the future, your older self is watching you through memories. Whether it’s with regret or nostalgia depends on what you do now.— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) July 8, 2022
