Raw Data

Once we have invested our time, effort and resources in something, we tend to avoid correcting ourselves in real-time if we are off-track.

Inversely, when people engage in mental contrasting, anticipating the upcoming obstacles, they tend to succeed.

Sharing information on failure among peers means less work overall, and better success for the entire team, as team members do not have to reinvent the wheel by making the same mistake to learn from it.

People do not share failure as it hurts their self-esteem, but if we keep the personal equation aside, a lot can be gained from the collective knowledge of what didn’t work.

• When we encounter unfamiliar information on a social network, we verify it in one of two ways. We either go through the burdensome process of countless claims and counter-claims to understand if it is true, or we rely on others by way of social proof.
• If we search for online information, instead of coming up with our own way of assessing the quality or the usefulness of every website,  we rely on Google's PageRank algorithm to come up with the best sites. In essence, we rely on other people to source information by use of user traffic, reviews, ratings, clicks and likes.

Infostorms are like actual storms: they are a product of climatic conditions. Different climates can produce different results.

The more we understand the chain of events that led to a particular view, the better we are equipped to appreciate it if we are skeptical or take into account other perspectives.

• Plato believed that because we feel unhappy internally when we do something wrong, eudaimonia is the highest feeling of moral thought and behaviour where there is real happiness from within. Happiness, according to him, was about living in the pursuit of various virtues, central to flourishing.
• Plato never mentioned the term eudaimonia, but his writings on the concept of courage, justice, wisdom and moderation point towards the same domain of wellbeing.

Aristotle in his many works has provided numerous interpretations of eudaimonia, explaining it as something reflecting the pursuit of virtue, excellence and the best within us. According to him, eudaimonia is a rational activity aimed at the pursuit of what is worthwhile in life.

Having an intention to be virtuous was an important factor for eudaimonia.

Feelings are preceded by emotions and tend to be our reactions to them. Emotions are a more generalized experience across humans, but feelings are more subjective and influenced by our personal experiences and interpretations, thus they are harder to measure.

They can be defined as unpleasant or unhappy emotions evoked in individuals to express a negative effect towards something.

Although some are labeled negative, all emotions are normal to the human experience. And it’s important to understand when and why negative emotions might arise, and develop positive behaviors to address them.

1. Most people blindly follow a figure of authority due to an inbuilt culture of obedience, where positional power eclipses any sound judgement.
2. Authoritarians ensure most of the information never reaches people, by discrediting or cutting off the information sources.
3. They use incremental action by gradually increasing the demands that are made on others.
4. They ensure that people don’t have any personal responsibility for their actions. Example: Managers hiding behind company policy to justify unfairness at the workplace.
5. They use the power of fear by discrediting facts, scapegoating, polarization, and divide and rule tactics.

Normally, we utilize the ‘high road’, the main regions of the brain (thoughtfulness and reasoning) before any information reaches the amygdala (region of emotional response).

When a brain reacts due to any kind of threat, the main brain regions are skipped as the ‘low road’ is taken, sending the information directly to the emotional processing region, activating stress, anxiety and fear-based reactions.

• Animals (especially a "whole animal" approach, including organs, bone marrow, cartilage, and organs).
• Animal products (such as eggs or honey).
• Vegetables and fruits.
• Raw nuts and seeds.
• Added fats (like coconut oil, avocado, butter, ghee).

Awe is an emotional response to being in the presence of something greater than yourself, and that exceeds current knowledge structures.

Awe is a positive emotion and has a broadening effect on our thoughts and actions.

Feelings of awe have historically been recorded when individuals encounter contact with a "higher" power.

In modern times, the main triggers of awe are philosophical ones such as literature, music, paintings, and nature. Examples include natural wonders or events such as childbirth.

Highly productive professionals share the same clusters of habits:

• They plan their work based on their top priorities and then acted with a definite objective
• They develop effective techniques for managing a high volume of information and tasks
• They understand the needs of their colleagues, enabling short meetings, responsive communications, and clear directions.

Age and seniority highly correlate with personal productivity.

Habits of seniors include:

• Developing routines for low-value activities.
• Managing message flow
• Running effective meetings
• Delegating tasks