The More You Do Something, the More You Value it
The more time and energy you put into something, the more you value it. This Escalation of Commitment phenomenon (or commitment bias) relates to a number of other decision making biases.
Social Sciences
Social science is the study of relationships within a society including economics, political science, and more. Many social sciences like philosophy are also considered humanities (the study of culture).
What is a Useful Idiot?
“Useful Idiot” is a political insult that describes a person who, through manipulation or not, is useful to a political cause that is not their own despite not fully realizing their role.
In-groups and Out-groups Explained
An “in-group” is a group you are part of (genetically, culturally, or ideologically), while an “out-group” is a group you aren’t part of.
The Left-Right Political Spectrum Explained
The left-right political spectrum is used to create a model that shows a spectrum of political positions. Traditionally there is a 2-axis spectrum of left and right, but there are also many widely adopted 4-axis model.
Conspiracy Theories Explained
Conspiracy theories are sets of one more speculative hypotheses, backed by fallacious reasoning, that suppose a conspiracy.
Hardwired Versus Softwired (Brain)
In pop-science, in reference to the brain, you’ll hear the terms “hardwired” and “softwired”, hardwired means genetically programed and softwired means learned.
Collective Intelligence is the Intelligence of a Group
Collective intelligence is the wisdom of crowds, or the intelligence of groups, the intelligence that arises from cooperation, competition, and other group dynamics.
A Person Can be a “Lone Genius”
A person can be a “lone genius”, but as an essay called “Deconstructing the Lone Genius Myth” points out, genius is in many ways a collective process.
10,000 Hours of Practice Makes Perfect
The “10,000 hours theory”, that it takes roughly 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become an “outlier”, is a useful concept, but not an exact rule.
Game Theory is the Science of Strategy
Game theory is “the science of strategy,” a branch of mathematics that studies the strategy, rules, and statistics of decision making games and applies it to other fields.