With time, our brains develop clever artifices to help solve common problems. These repeated concepts are called heuristics: algorithms, procedures or rules of thumb that simplify decision making. 
When we rely on heuristics for making decisions and solving problems, we save mental energy for complex or high-level decisions.

Shortcuts to smarter thinking

Problem Solving

The problem with using this appears we rely too much on using our existing heuristic patterns without modifying them, because that can create a state of mental stagnation. 
Mental operations are affected by mistakes such as cognitive biases, if we are not careful.

The problem with heuristics

We like to be right. And to protect our desire to be right, we look for evidence that supports our ideas and ignore evidence that contradicts them. 
But to construct a holistic view about anything, we have to aim to understand the big picture and be particularly critical of sources that support our beliefs.

Understanding the bigger picture

In the long-term, comfort is bad for your brain.
Seeking new experiences, learning new skills, and opening the door to new ideas inspire us and educate us in a way that improves mental clarity.

Comfortable with feeling uncomfortable

“It’s the willingness to leave the comfort zone that is the key to keeping the brain new.”

Quote

Curiosity is the force that activates and sustains lifelong learning. 
A naturally curious mind takes interest in a wide range of subjects to find connections to help solve everyday problems better.

Cultivate your curiosity

<div>
<h2>Aiming to be less wrong</h2>
<a href="https://medium.com/@alltopstartups?source=post_page-----7705f6b3e039----------------------"><img src="https://miro.medium.com/fit/c/96/96/2*vUTYMb3_FJSHWMfAyNzpwQ.png"> </a> The human brain is a brilliant pattern recognition machine.
To respond faster and more efficiently to the multiple demands of life without having to reinvent the wheel, our brains streamline our decision-making process by creating shortcuts.
Every day you make both automatic and rational decisions about how to start your morning right, what to eat, what to wear, how to commute to work, what to work on at work, and how to end your day.
Through experience, the brain develops many clever tricks to help solve common problems. These recurring concepts are called heuristics - algorithms, procedures or rules of thumb that simplify decision making.
When you are familiar with your choices, you can use them to quickly create a mental picture of a situation, which becomes a model that you can later apply in similar situations. As s Charlie Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway <a href="https://25iq.com/2015/08/22/a-dozen-things-ive-learned-from-charlie-munger-about-mental-models-and-worldly-wisdom/">says</a>, "80 or 90 important models will carry about 90% of the freight in making you a worldly&#8209;wise person."
If it wasn't for thinking heuristically we would be consistently exhausted with what the modern world throws at us. "A remarkable aspect of your mental life is that you are rarely stumped ... The normal state of your mind is that you have intuitive feelings and opinions about almost everything that comes your way ... Whether you state them or not, you often have answers to questions that you do not completely understand, relying on evidence that you can neither explain nor defend," explains Daniel Kahneman, in his book, Thinking, Fast and Slow.
The more you rely on heuristics for making decisions and solving problems, the less you have to think and the more you save mental energy for complex or high-level decisions.
Heuristics are superior to rational thought in low-level decision making- they are shortcuts to smarter thinking. Gabriel Weinberg, explains in his book, Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models, "...super models are shortcuts to higher-level thinking. If you can understand the relevant models for a situation, then you can bypass lower-level thinking and immediately jump to higher-level thinking. In contrast, people who don't know these models will likely never reach this higher level, and certainly not quickly."
In spite of their usefulness, <a href="https://fs.blog/mental-models/">mental shortcuts</a> are not taught in schools. We pick a few of them in formal education, but the bulk of them we learn on our own through reading, conversations, and experience.
But the problem with heuristics is that if we rely too much on using our existing heuristic patterns without modifying them we can create a state of mental stagnation. Mental procedures are susceptible to errors of judgment such as cognitive biases if we are not careful.
Scientists have identified hundreds of these <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases">flawed heuristics</a>. Unfortunately, these biases can lea., d to shallow thinking and hasty conclusions - essentially, they're turning you into a lazy thinker.
Your biases have profound effects on the decisions you make, the choices you make and the results you get. But you can train your brain to recognise your biases and improve your mental shortcuts.
</div>

The human brain is a brilliant pattern recognition machine. To respond faster and more efficiently to the multiple demands of life without having to reinvent the wheel, our brains streamline our decision-making process by creating shortcuts.

The human brain is a brilliant pattern recognition machine. To respond faster and more efficiently to the multiple demands of life without having to reinvent the wheel, our brains streamline our decision-making process by creating shortcuts. Every day you make both automatic and rational decisions about how to start your morning right, what to eat, what to wear, how to commute to work, what to work on at work, and how to end your day. Through experience, the brain develops many clever tricks to help solve common problems. These recurring concepts are called heuristics - algorithms, procedures or rules of thumb that simplify decision making.

When you are familiar with your choices, you can use them to quickly create a mental picture of a situation, which becomes a model that you can later apply in similar situations. As s Charlie Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway <a href="https://25iq.com/2015/08/22/a-dozen-things-ive-learned-from-charlie-munger-about-mental-models-and-worldly-wisdom/">says </a>, "80 or 90 important models will carry about 90% of the freight in making you a worldly‑wise person."

If it wasn't for thinking heuristically we would be consistently exhausted with what the modern world throws at us. "A remarkable aspect of your mental life is that you are rarely stumped ... The normal state of your mind is that you have intuitive feelings and opinions about almost everything that comes your way ... Whether you state them or not, you often have answers to questions that you do not completely understand, relying on evidence that you can neither explain nor defend," explains Daniel Kahneman, in his book, Thinking, Fast and Slow.

The more you rely on heuristics for making decisions and solving problems, the less you have to think and the more you save mental energy for complex or high-level decisions. Heuristics are superior to rational thought in low-level decision making- they are shortcuts to smarter thinking. Gabriel Weinberg, explains in his book, Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models, "...super models are shortcuts to higher-level thinking. If you can understand the relevant models for a situation, then you can bypass lower-level thinking and immediately jump to higher-level thinking. In contrast, people who don't know these models will likely never reach this higher level, and certainly not quickly."

In spite of their usefulness, <a href="https://fs.blog/mental-models/">mental shortcuts </a>are not taught in schools. We pick a few of them in formal education, but the bulk of them we learn on our own through reading, conversations, and experience. But the problem with heuristics is that if we rely too much on using our existing heuristic patterns without modifying them we can create a state of mental stagnation. Mental procedures are susceptible to errors of judgment such as cognitive biases if we are not careful. Scientists have identified hundreds of these <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases">flawed heuristics </a>. Unfortunately, these biases can lea., d to shallow thinking and hasty conclusions - essentially, they're turning you into a lazy thinker.

Bite‑sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

3 Shortcuts to High-Level Thinking

Shortcuts to smarter thinking

The problem with heuristics

Understanding the bigger picture

Comfortable with feeling uncomfortable

MICHAEL MERZENICH

Cultivate your curiosity

How to Not Attribute to Malice Things Adequately Explained by Stupidity

Getting Better by Being Wrong with Annie Duke

Making Smart Choices: 8 Keys to Making Effective Decisions

Bite‑sized knowledgeto upgradeyour career

3 Shortcuts to High-Level Thinking

Shortcuts to smarter thinking

The problem with heuristics

Understanding the bigger picture

Comfortable with feeling uncomfortable

MICHAEL MERZENICH

Cultivate your curiosity

How to Not Attribute to Malice Things Adequately Explained by Stupidity

Getting Better by Being Wrong with Annie Duke

Making Smart Choices: 8 Keys to Making Effective Decisions

Bite‑sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career