Learn more about habits with this collection
How to make rational decisions
The role of biases in decision-making
The impact of social norms on decision-making
The Problem With Rituals
Superstition is a kind of maladaptive behaviour that arises from what is normally a very good thing - the ability of the brain to predict.
It seems that the brain is constantly looking for associations between our behaviour, our environment and the rewards that we seek - and quite often, it can come to the wrong conclusions.
If superstitious behaviours arise as a by-product of our ability to form associations, then you would expect more superstitious people to perform better on this task.
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The Problem of 'Over-Imitating'
- Once rituals informed by superstitious learning exist, they can extend their influence beyond their creator.
- We're conditioned to admire successful people and mimic their habits, even if some of these habits are eccentric.
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Mimicking The Successful
Why do successful people follow such eccentrically specific habits? And why are we so keen to read about them and mimic them in our own lives?
The answer lies in a powerful psychological process called ‘superstitious learning’. The brain is constantly looking for associations between two ev...
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Positive Usages Of Imitation
By giving us a sense of self-determination, the adoption of rituals – including the completely random behaviours that we have learnt ourselves or borrowed from those we admire – can help us to overcome anxiety, and may even bring about a noticeable boost in performance.
When we hear of othe...
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The Law Of Effect
Developed by psychologist Edward Thorndike, the law of effect states that any behaviour that is positive or leads to satisfaction in a specific situation is likely to be repeated when that same situation arises again. Behaviours that lead to unease or discomfort tends to not be repeated....
Simulation: The Way The Brain Really Works
Every moment that we are alive, our brain utilizes concepts to simulate the surrounding environment, practically creating ‘our’ world.
At any given moment, our brain tries to reconstruct, guess or compute what’s happening in the world using simulation. The...
The Problem with To-Do Lists
To-do lists call our attention to tasks that are easy to quantify and complete. These tasks can feel more pressing and important than they really are and make us prioritize them while neglecting the non-urgent projects that would offer greater rewards.
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