What happens when your beliefs can’t change?

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This is part 2 in my series about "anchor beliefs" - but you don't need to read part 1 in order to understand it. I think that almost everyone has beliefs that are essentially unchangeable. These don't feel to us like beliefs but like incontrovertible truths. Counter-evidence can't touch them. They are beliefs we can't change our mind about. I call these "Anchor Beliefs." When Anchor Beliefs are false, we distort reality to fit them. So, what distortions do some reasonably common Anchor B...
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Twelve Recursive Explanations

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If the Overton Window were not inside of itself, you'd think I was crazy for writing this.Is it just me, or has the Baader-Meinhof effect been popping up all over the place ever since I learned about it?It's hard to justify learning about opportunity costs when there are so many other things you could be doing with that time.I don't think the idea of being Pareto Optimal has made anyone better off without making at least one person worse off.What can we infer from the fact that we find ourselve...
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How resetting your psychological baseline can make your life better

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This is a cross-post from ClearerThinking.org from October 6, 2020. Thanks go to Hunter Muir for editing. The piece was updated on December 14, 2022, and was cross-posted on this website on February 3, 2024. Many of us might be feeling bad about life at the moment. One approach that may improve your mood is shifting your psychological "baseline" of what you view as normal to reflect the reality you're currently living in. This blog examines how to accept the state of things as they curre...
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