Self Improvement Links [14 Jan]

In scanning through several hundred feed headlines this morning, I came across several articles that have a self-improvement flavor. The first couple are from Lifehack.org:

• In an examination of stumbling blocks, several stumbling blocks to self-improvement are addressed. One key area addressed is a lack of self-reflection, with author Dustin Wax noting that “I think it’s telling that virtually every productivity guru, every organization coach, and every successful leader advocates some sort of ritualized self-awareness time.” Amen. All too often we are too busy to figure out what we should be busy on.
• Donald Latumahina writes about 3 steps to get what you desire with the least effort. He does a quick review of Simpleology and discusses the steps of (1) know exactly what you want, (2) always follow a straight line, and (3) sharpen your saw.

The next couple of articles remind us that, while we are rational beings for the most part, we are not perfect computing machines. Our judgments and decisions are sometimes flawed by irrationalities that may be baggage from our evolutionary path. You may have heard me mention before that an enlightening book on this is The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less. I found it pretty humbling when I read this book.

Anyway, a couple of related links on this are

• Michael Shermer does an excellent job of discussing Why People Believe Weird Things About Money. His discussion of the phenomena of loss-aversion shows just how flawed our thinking can be.
• Over at PsychCentral, Dr. Rick Nauert discusses How Culture Affects The Way We Use Our Brain. He discusses studies that show a profound difference in how people of Western and Eastern cultures approach absolute judgments and relative judgments. Reading this reminded me of a comparison of religions I once read in which the author asserted that Westerners are more “either/or” in their thinking and Easterners are more “and” in their thinking. That may be an overgeneralization, but culture does have some influence how we view things. I think it would fantastic for Easterners and Westerners if we could learn from each other’s style of thinking.

It is very easy for us to think that we are “somehow above all of this.” But, the reality is that flawed thinking impacts even the smartest of people.

I am currently reading Lee Smolin’s The Trouble With Physics: The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next. In it, Dr. Smolin is revealing how many of the best scientific brains of the past 30 years may very well have wasted their time on string theory, and that the current scientific mindset is to continue to throw the vast majority of scientific research at string theory even though nothing has come of it in 30 years and even though no “breakthroughs” seem to be on the horizon. What a damn shame. String theory might actually be “the answer,” but we should still be putting more effort on alternative theories.

I raise these points about problems with our thinking because I believe that being aware of them can help us overcome them. If you are aware of how loss-aversion, for example, can screw you out of money, you are stand a chance of beating it.