In the book, Loserthink: How Untrained Brains Are Ruining America, Scott Adams analyzed and discussed ways to teach us how to eliminate our biases and to sharpen our ability to think critically.
These are some of my favorite quotes and takeaways from reading the book.
How can we minimize our tendency for Loserthink by thinking like an artist?
What to watch out for: Failure of Imagination.
“If you can’t imagine any other explanation for a set of facts, it might be because you are bad at imagining things.”
How can we minimize our tendency for Loserthink by thinking like a historian?
What to watch out for: Assuming the history we learned is accurate
“If you believe you learned an accurate version of history in school, you are probably wrong.”
What to watch out for: Allowing history to have a stronghold on us
“If bad memories are keeping you from being happy, try crowding out the destructive memories with new and interesting thoughts. Stay busy, in mind and body, and time is on your side.”
“History (even the fake kind) can be useful for persuading others through guilt. But don’t make the mistake of persuading yourself that history should matter to your choices today.”
“Focusing on the past when the present offers sufficient paths to success is Loserthink. It is better to focus on your own systems for success, and when you succeed, watch how winning fixes most problems.”
What to watch out for: History Repeats
“History doesn’t repeat, at least not in any way you can use to accurately predict the future. (The exceptions are simple situations.)”
What to watch out for: The Slippery Slope
“Belief in slippery slopes is Loserthink. It is more useful to look at forces and counterforces to see where things are likely to end up.”
Watch to watch out for: Privacy is Overrated.
“If you think more privacy is always better, that is a case of Loserthink. Every situation is different. Sometimes privacy is the problem that prevents the solutions.”
Analytics Journal by David Lowe 