Do you have a burning memory of an embarrassing experience that happened to you, and can’t help but think that everyone who was present must still laugh about it to this day? Chances are, most of them don’t even remember any of it. Similarly, have you noticed how we tend to overestimate the amount of …
Read moreEgocentric bias: why we feel like the main character in our own movie
These days, every note-taker and productivity aficionado seems to hesitate between Roam and Notion as their main tool for storing, retrieving, and creating content. As any tool for thought offers compound interest after continuous use, it’s better to pick a tool and stick to it for a while. So which one should you go for? …
While bounded learning is based on a fixed curriculum with specific educational outcomes, unbounded learning embraces the never-ending cycle of personal growth generated by continuous education. It is based on strategies and tools that avoid unnecessary direction and restriction, that foster curiosity, and that reward exploring adjacent questions. Today’s world offers many opportunities for unbounded …
Read moreUnbounded learning: how to unshackle your education
FEATURED TOOL Welcome to a new edition of our series of interviews with founders of tools for thought! Yehoshua Zlotogorski is the founder of Alpe, offering audio courses to learn on the go. The courses are delivered by professors at leading universities and top entrepreneurs, such as Drew Boyd from the University of Cincinnati, and …
Read moreLearning through your ears with Yehoshua Zlotogorski, founder of Alpe Audio
“It was better before,” says your friend. “Ha, those were the days,” your reply with a sigh. Declinism is the belief that societies tend towards decline, often linked with rosy retrospection—our tendency to view the past more favourably and the future more negatively. It may seem harmless, but declinism can cloud your judgement and lead …
Read moreDeclinism: how rosy retrospection impacts decision-making
Some people only help when it benefits themselves, others foster transactional relationships, while yet others are generous with their time and energy, without asking for anything in return. Whether in their personal or professional relationships, takers, givers, and matchers achieve different outcomes. Surprisingly, givers display the most radically distinctive results. Are you a taker, a …
What do astrology, aura reading, fortune telling, cold reading, and some personality tests such as the MBTI have in common? They all exploit the Barnum Effect to convince people that the generated statements are personal to them. The statements are so vague, we interpret our own meaning, sometimes feeling in awe of their accuracy. “That’s …
Read moreThe Barnum Effect: why we love astrology and personality tests
FEATURED TOOL Welcome to a new edition of our tools for thought series! We had the pleasure to chat with Bill Harding, one of the minds behind Amplenote, a note-taking app “to write things down and get them done.” Bill is the CEO of Alloy.dev, which builds productivity tools for busy people. Amplenote’s parent company …
You may think your likes and dislikes are formed through rational decision-making. After all— whether it is books, movies, music, food, romantic partners, or fashion—your tastes are a defining part of your identity. But the reality is more complicated than that. Our genes, our culture, and our experiences define why we like what we like. …
Journaling offers many benefits, including improved mood, fewer stress-related visits to the doctor, feeling of greater psychological well-being, reduced depressive symptoms and absenteeism from work, improved working memory, and more. However, many people struggle to build a journaling habit. The blank page of a journal can feel daunting, and many journaling methods assume a well-ingrained …
Read more90 journaling prompts to spark new personal insights