Topic: Cognition & Psychology

Blog archives

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• Traction Heroes Ep. 24: Listening

  A conversation about the importance of paying attention to what others are saying — and how to do it.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 23: The Lindy Effect

  A conversation about remaining resilient in a time of rapid change.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 22: Thresholds of Change

  A model for acting skillfully when things are changing.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 21: Social Traps

  A taxonomy of five kinds of traps that can keep you from gaining traction — and how to avoid them.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 18: Framing

  A conversation about how choosing your mental models can help you gain traction

• Traction Heroes Ep. 17: The Inner Game

  A conversation about the risks of overthinking and how to avoid it.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 16: OODA Loops

  Exploring a classic cybernetic model for improving performance.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 9: Procrastination

  How to overcome the tendency to put hard things off.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 8: Quagmires

  Harry and I discuss the source of the turbulence we see in the world — and what we might do about it.

• Using AI to Illuminate My Blind Spots

  ChatGPT helps me think about what I need to improve.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 7: Better Questions

  How do you act skillfully in times of uncertainty? Start with the questions you ask yourself.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 4: Mental Models

  Harry Max and I discuss how our ideas about the world affect our ability to act skillfully.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 3: Beyond Data

  Harry Max and I discuss how to make good decisions when data isn’t enough.

• The Informed Life with Luc Beaudoin

  A conversation with a cognitive scientist and software developer focused on improving personal productivity.

• Two Types of Personal Journals

  Journaling helps you be more mindful. And there’s more than one way to do it.

• The Four Laws of Behavior Change

  How to adopt new habits by using James Clear’s four laws of behavior change.

• Rosenfeld Review: Taking Notes and Nurturing Your Knowledge Garden

  An interview I gave on my publisher's podcast about my book on note-taking.

• The Informed Life with Dan Russell

  Overview of my conversation with a search anthropologist about how you can use web search engines more effectively.

• The Ultimate Meta-skill

  Why you should consider building a personal knowledge management system.

• Tips for Building a Thinking Place

  Once you realize thinking doesn’t just happen in the brain, you can set up better conditions for thinking.

• The Practical Use of Theory

  Theory gets a bad rap. But a good theory can be very practical.

• Mind-Tickling Tactics

  Ten approaches for sparking insights.

• A Question for Your Mentor

  If you’re just getting started, this is what you should ask a more experienced practitioner.

• Notes Are for More than Remembering

  Many people think of note-taking as an extension of memory, but they’re more than that.

• The Informed Life with Rob Ashton

  A summary of my conversation with writer Rob Ashton about the science of reading and writing.

• How to Avoid Misplacing Things

  If you don't want to lose things, put them where you’ll be likely to find them later.

• The Informed Life with Howard Rheingold

  A summary of my conversation with the eminent author and educator about the evolution of Tools for Thought.

• The Informed Life with Veronica Erb

  Overview of my conversation with an avid reader and newsletter publisher about her note-taking practices.

• Book Notes: “Genius”

  An overview of James Gleick’s book about the life of Richard Feynman, with a focus on how the latter worked with notes.

• Overcoming the Scarcity of Context

  An argument for developing ‘the ultimate expertise.’

• The Informed Life with Hans Krueger

  How emotions affect our state of being, and how we can better manage them.

• The Informed Life with Annie Murphy Paul

  Highlights from my conversation with the acclaimed science writer about her book ‘The Extended Mind.’

• The Informed Life with Patrick Tanguay

  Notes from my conversation with the ‘generalist, synthesist, and curator’ behind one of my favorite newsletters.

• Book Notes: “The Extended Mind”

  My notes on Annie Murphy Paul's book that explains the research and implications of extended mind theory.

• The Informed Life with Sunni Brown

  A conversation about how design thinking and Zen Buddhism can lead to a more fulfilling and engaged life.

• An Idea from Computer Science That Can Change Your Life

  An unexpected principle that can improve your relationships with other people

• The Informed Life with Karl Fast, part 2

  A summary of the second part of my conversation with Karl Fast about embodiment and interaction.

• Book Notes: “The Inner Game of Tennis”

  My summary of a book about quieting the inner critic so we can get into flow.

• Book Notes: “The Undoing Project”

  Notes on a book about the collaboration between Israeli psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky.

• Book Notes: “Wanting”

  Takeaways from Luke Burkis's book about mimetic desires.

• The Last Illusion

  Embracing uncertainty can give you more agency and power to evolve.

• The Key to Understanding Why Things Happen

  Understanding structures and mental models produces better outcomes.

• Book Notes: “The Scout Mindset”

  An overview of Julia Galef's book on practical rationality

• How I Manage 'Thinking' Time

  Notes on how I make better ‘thinking’ time.

• Ways of Thinking

  Reflections on the role of paper-based sketching (as opposed to the digital kind) in my thinking processes.

• Conformism ↔ Independent-mindedness

  On a continuum that influences our lives.

• Expanding Our Practice

  Thinking more broadly about the role of information architecture.

• The Informed Life With Stephen P. Anderson

  A conversation about creating environments for shared understanding.

• Gaining Clarity in Times of Uncertainty

  Coping with uncertainty through research.

• Facts Are Stubborn Things

  How to stay grounded when your wishes and passions cloud your vision

• The Name of the Bird

  How the name of a thing changes our relationship to it.

• John Cale on Victimhood

  How John Cale overcame the ""victim"" mindset that almost derailed his life and career.

• Understanding Customer Mental Models

  How your customers think about your business changes how they interact with it.

• Hitched to Everything Else

  How everything is interconnected influences personal growth and societal progress.

• Karl Popper on Definitions

  How Karl Popper's insights on definitions challenge our obsession with semantic precision.

• The Power of Any Orthodoxy

  How orthodoxy hides in plain sight — and why you should care.

• The Cynefin Framework

  How the Cynefin Framework helps navigate complex systems with distinct decision-making strategies.

• Daniel Kahneman on Framing and Incentives

  How designers can reframe problems to enable better decisions and outcomes.

• What a Paradox Is

  How a Nobel laureate’s insight can help you deal with contradictions in life.

• Possible Future

  Reflect on how life's narrowing possibilities demand active care for your future.

• Buffers: A Key to Working at Your Most Effective

  How structuring your tasks with strategic buffers boosts productivity and effectiveness.

• The Cognition Crisis

  How our brains struggle to adapt to fast-changing tech.

• Seeing What’s Actually There

  How drawing reveals gaps between perception and reality.

• Anxiety About Results

  How calm surrender can ease anxiety in producing better work.

• Bertrand Russell’s Advice for Future Generations

  Timeless wisdom on facts, truth, love, and tolerance.

• How to Understand a Complex Subject

  How concept mapping helps make sense of complex subjects and boosts learning.

• Working in a Second Language

  How working in a second language sharpens understanding and informs better IA.

• Seeing Clearly

  Navigating decisions wisely hinges on clear perception; how do you ensure clarity?

• A Principle for Self-organizing Systems?

  Is Karl Friston's free energy principle the key to understanding self-organizing systems?

• Developing a Mental Model of a System

  Building a mental model of systems like the Apple Watch enhances user proficiency.

• Trapped by Mental Models

  Discover how our mental models shape—and sometimes distort—our understanding.

• Accordance With the Truth of Things

  How mindful language drives clarity and success.

• Think Better, Fast

  How designing the right thinking environment can dramatically boost your cognitive abilities.

• How Do You Know What’s True?

  How trusting information is like bumping into walls.

• A Good General

  The role of luck in leadership and what it means for personal growth.

• Thinking With Bookshelves

  How physical bookshelves and digital libraries shape our cognitive processes differently.

• Book Notes: “The Organized Mind”

  Understanding our brain's organization can declutter your life and spaces.

• Not an Optimist

  Can ""possibilism"" trump mere optimism in shaping effective design perspectives?

• Resilience

  Resilience is key in systems and societies; understand goals and act to sustain.

• Switching Modalities

  How switching perspectives boosts creativity and problem-solving in all endeavors.

• Amusing Contradictions

  Roland Barthes on why contradictions bring delight and reveal gaps in perception.

• Places Are Making You Stupid

  How our physical spaces affect our focus and cognitive abilities.

• What’s Your Story?

  On the trap of victim mentality and how to overcome it by shifting your self-narrative.

• Getting at the Real Meaning of Things

  How focus and simplification reveal meaning.

• The Use of Models

  How creating simple models helps navigate complex systems and take skillful action.

• Quality is a Direct Experience

  Experience quality firsthand, beyond intellectual confines.

• What Keeps You Up at Night?

  How understanding systems and causality can prevent unintended consequences and sleepless nights.

• How to Clear a Logjam

  Learn how to manage overcommitment.

• Book Notes: "Enlightenment Now"

  A provocative call to embrace Enlightenment ideals amidst challenges from tribalism and extremism.

• Seeing Clearly

  Navigating bias and gut instincts to truly understand our context and decisions.

• Responding to Undetectable Signals in the Environment

  How unseen signals influence our choices.

• How Do You Know?

  Examining mental models helps refine decisions.

• Book Notes: “Leonardo da Vinci”

  How curiosity across fields sparks creativity.

• The More You Can Escape, the Worse Things Get

  How evading harsh realities can make them spiral out of control.

• The Call

  Our era quietly calls us — how will you respond?

• Taking Notes

  Balancing paper's speed with digital's flexibility enriches my note-taking process.

• Distinctions

  How distinctions clarify complex subjects by increasing contrast.

• We Are Not Stuff That Abides

  We're not static entities.

• Honoring Intuition

  My journey with intuition versus rationality highlights the challenge of trusting gut feelings.

• Book Notes: "Finite and Infinite Games"

  Life's possibilities widen when we play for the sake of play itself.

• Vaguely Right

  The value of embracing ambiguity over potential certainty.

• Making Time for Noodling

  How daily walks with my dog spark creativity and why noodling is key for growth.

• Self-image Ideals

  How self-image ideals shift with societal changes, from UV exposure to digital age agency.

• Turmoil and Wonder

  Reflecting my great-grandfather's journey through a century of challenges and marvels.

• The Measures of a Man

  How losing my Apple Watch data helped me focus on real health, not just metrics.

• Bad Terminology

  Discover how bad terminology clouds clear thinking, with insights from Warren Buffett.

• We'll See

  An old Taoist parable suggests true leadership lies in equanimity amidst uncertainty.

• The Instrument

  Using consciousness as our primary design instrument.

• What Are You Reading?

  How diverse reading layers affect depth and understanding.

• Book Notes: "The Knowledge Illusion"

  Understanding shared knowledge gaps can inspire better design decisions.

• Acting Skillfully

  Navigating high-stakes decisions requires clarity and a framework for skillful action.

• Your Attention, Please

  The power to direct your attention defines the life you'll lead.

• The Map, the Territory, and the Fitness Tracker

  Exploring how digital tools shape our habits and the essence of mindful presence.

• ​Double Dragon

  Playing Double Dragon with my son transformed nostalgia into a shared adventure.

• Of Molders and Dancers

  A letter to my kids about the importance of adaptable thinking in a changing world.

• My Favorite Reads of 2013

  My top reads of 2013, from stoic wisdom to insights on IA.