Have you abandoned thinking to “influencers?”

Do we need more “influencers” telling us what to do, or do we need more people who think and act to resolve our challenges. Let’s see if I can influence your thinking.

You’re a sucker if you need to always be right. You will ignore/discount information that you disagree with and, therefore, people will tell you what you want to hear not what you need to hear. Too common in Washington.

Yes, the curse of knowledge applies to you. You assume that everyone has your set of experiences, and you wonder why they can’t see things your way. Sometimes you may have to “dumb it down.”

Your circle of competence is smaller than you think. There are “dragons in the waters” between what you know and what you think you know. Don’t ignore them. You may have a PhD in XYZ; that doesn’t mean you’re an expert in ABC.

Beware of amygdala hijacking. Emotions erode and override thinking. Emotions are a short-cut to opinions. However, the road to defensible opinions is sometimes long and hard, but we’re in a hurry.

Ideology is a good compass, but a dangerous map. Maps should represent reality. Ideology is a system of ideas and ideals that form the basis of theory and policy. Theory and reality are often at odds.

Yes, you are biased. You just aren’t aware of all of them. For example, do you like reading things that agree with your point of view? That’s a confirmation bias. Or do you love a sport team or political party “just because?” you’ve jumped on the bandwagon bias.  There are plenty more. Look them up and consider your biases. (And, yes, you ARE biased.)

Trust, but verify. President Reagan used a Russian quote (no, he did not make it up) with Gorbachev to tell him that he trusted his intentions but needed to verify the reality on the ground. Good advice in 1986; good advice now.

Yes, some people are trying to deceive you. This has always been true, but it has only gotten worse in the age of social media. Keep the Reagan quote from above in mind when “you read it on the internet.”

Do you want the truth, or do you want to win? The truth can be ugly. But sometimes we lie, cheat, and steal in order to win. If winning is everything your moral code is in danger. Just look at Washington. What’s more important, the truth or winning?

Motivated reasoning breeds false confidence. Motivated reasoning is the tendency to reach conclusions that we want to reach, even if objective data doesn’t support them. Our political leaders ignore the hard work of dealing with global warming as long as they can call it a hoax.