This is rather like the case of the performer with stage fright whose true abilities are masked by their own mounting expectations of failure. The circularity is daunting. Every new instance of stage fright confirms the expectations of failure, and those expectations ensure that the instances of failure accumulate. Recognizing this circularity is, however, often the first step in breaking the cycle, as we’ll see later when looking at ways to “hack” our own predictive brains.
