The Intelligence Trap: Revolutionise your Thinking and Make Wiser Decisions

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The unfortunate conclusion is that, even if you happen to be rational in general, it’s possible that you may still be prone to flawed reasoning on certain questions that matter most to you. Conan Doyle’s beliefs were certainly of this kind: spiritualism seems to have offered him enormous comfort throughout his life. Given these findings, many cognitive scientists divide our thinking into two categories: “system 1,” intuitive, automatic, “fast thinking” that may be prey to unconscious biases; and “system 2,” “slow,” more analytical, deliberative thinking. According to this view—called dual- process theory—many of our irrational decisions come when we rely too heavily on system 1, allowing those biases to muddy our judgment. Worse still, they appear to have a bigger ‘bias blind spot’, meaning they are less able to recognize the holes in their logic. Deliberately avoiding the chance to learn new information to avoid discomfort and to increase our productivity. At work, for instance, it can be beneficial not to question the long-term consequences of your actions, if that knowledge will interfere with the chances of promotion. These choices may be unconscious.”

The Intelligence Trap is written for anyone who wants to escape the above mistake — a user’s guide to both the science and art of wisdom. The author asks three questions: why do smart people act stupidly? What skills and dispositions are they missing that can explain these mistakes? And, how can we cultivate those qualities that protect us from these errors? Robson is an award-winning science journalist working with BBC Future, where he specialises in psychology, neuroscience, and medicine. His skill as a journalist makes him readable and entertaining while his scientific approach makes him credible. In this step, you make your decision. You can now choose more effectively because you’ve scanned and organized three important pieces of information: the positives, the negatives, and the interesting. Our goal has always been to give the concept of rationality a fair hearing—almost as if it had been proposed prior to intelligence,” he wrote in his scholarly book on the subject. It is, he says, a “great irony” that the thinking skills explored in Kahneman’s Nobel Prize-winning work are still neglected in our most well-known assessment of cognitive ability. We all know them, the forgetful professor, the absentminded scientist, and otherwise seemingly intelligent people who do things that make us blink. One example in this book is a prominent scientist who is convince that aliens are among us. This book looks at why it is very easy for experts in a field not belief the evidence that is right in front of their eyes. Be more curious: When you’re curious, you’ll want to seek out new information and challenge yourself. Curiosity can help us overcome motivated reasoning because it leads us to a sea of knowledge, where we can discover facts that support our beliefs and also those that challenge them.To minimise such vulnerabilities Robson devotes chapter 4 to evidence-based wisdom. This wisdom involves intellectual humility, with the ability to seek out information that runs counter to one's original point of view, coupled with an awareness of the inherent uncertainty in our judgements. When strong emotions interfere with this approach Robson suggests various forms of self-distancing. Such wisdom may be related to health and happiness but is poorly correlated with intelligence, though it does tend to increase with age in Western cultures. According to de Bono, we can avoid the Intelligence Trap by exploring the positive, negative and interesting angles of any idea. Part 3 turns to the science of learning and memory. Despite their brain power, intelligent people sometimes struggle to learn well, reaching a plateau in their abilities that fails to reflect their potential. EBW can help to break that vicious cycle by offering three rules for deep learning — rules that explain why East Asian education systems are so successful. Of course, intuitive or instinctive decision-making can be good in some situations, such as figuring out whether to marry someone or to date them. There is an evolutionary reason so many of us rely on “gut feeling” decisions — they probably served our ancestors well enough for thousands of years. Motivated Reasoning

Category: Effectiveness, Intellectual-Horsepower, Mind, Personal Development, Personal Effectiveness, Thinking Skills Tag: Effectiveness, Personal-Development Burvīga grāmata ar daudz un ļoti dažādiem piemēriem kā inteliģenti cilvēki savu zināšanu dēļ iekrīt nepareizos lēmumos un pat veic prātam neaptveramas izvēles. Overall the book is a typically designed yet different genre book to understand the psyche of a human mind. This is a good book describing the most common mistakes and biases in our decision making progress. Author focuses on highly intelligent people, but I think similar mistakes are committed by average Joe. Most presented studie results can be probably extrapolated to the general population. You might at least expect that more intelligent people could learn to recognize these flaws. In reality, most people assume that they are less vulnerable than other people, and this is equally true of the “smarter” participants. Indeed, in one set of experiments studying some of the classic cognitive biases, Stanovich found that people with higher SAT scores actually had a slightly larger “bias blind spot” than people who were less academically gifted. “Adults with more cognitive ability are aware of their intellectual status and expect to outperform others on most cognitive tasks,” Stanovich told me. “Because these cognitive biases are presented to them as essentially cognitive tasks, they expect to outperform on them as well.”Exhausted from making too many decisions – so simplify our choices, decision-making and take breaks to recharge. Don’t fall into the intelligence tap. The intelligence trap is when you get trapped in one point of view. Humble Leadership: Using staff questionnaires to explore the top management teams of 105 technology companies, researchers have seen that employees under a humble leader are more likely to share information, collaborate in times of stress, and contribute to a shared vision. By tapping into collective intelligence, businesses were better able to overcome challenges and uncertainty, ultimately resulting in greater annual profits a year later. It’s fast and simple. All I do is remind myself to use the PMI technique if I find myself judging a point of view.

I run into the Intelligence Trap a lot at work. It usually happens when somebody wants to play the Devil’s advocate. Tiedetoimittaja David Robsonin Älykkyysloukku on kultakaivos! Hän aloittaa esittelemällä tunnettuja huippuälykkäitä ihmisiä, jotka ovat intoutuneet uskomaan mitä mielettömimpiin salaliittoihin ja humpuukiin. Ammattiurallaan he ovat saavuttaneet huikeita tuloksia, mutta harkinta ja arviointikyky eivät ole kantaneet siviiliin asti. Harva meistä on huippuälykäs, mutta samat päättelyn sudenkuopat odottavat meitä kaikkia. Yksilöiden lisäksi Robson esittelee toimivan tiimin tunnusmerkkejä, ja antaa tässäkin runsaasti esimerkkejä huippuyksilöistä koostuvista tiimeistä niin urheilussa (Englannin maajoukkue), teollisuudessa (Deepwater Horizon) kuin bisneksessä (Nokia..), jotka huikeasta lahjakkuudestaan ja resursseistaan huolimatta epäonnistuvat surkeasti.Once a perception has been broadened in this way, the thinker cannot unthink what is now in front of them.” Overview of the PMI Technique Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds. The logic of the two statements is exactly the same—but it is far easier to notice the flaw in the reasoning when the conclusion clashes with your existing knowledge. In the first example, however, you have to put aside your preconceptions and think, carefully and critically, about the specific statements at hand—to avoid thinking that the argument is right just because the conclusion makes sense with what you already know. Though an interesting read, too much information makes the book little slow-paced and boring in some places. The belief that intelligence and talent are innate, and exerting effort is a sign of weakness. Besides limiting our ability to learn, this attitude also seems to make us generally more closed-minded and intellectually arrogant.”