The Geek Way: The Radical Mindset that Drives Extraordinary Results

by Andrew McAfee

To see how, let’s go back to the ultimate geek ground rule: Shape the ultrasociality of group members so that the group’s cultural evolution is as rapid as possible in the desired direction. Since we know what kind of cultural evolution we’re seeking here, we can be more specific: Shape the ultrasociality of group members so that the group makes better decisions and predictions. We also know that overconfidence and confirmation bias are two of the main things that keep us from getting better at these tasks. Finally, we know that while the Homo sapiens approach of training ourselves to be better, more rational thinkers is helpful, it’s unlikely to make our press secretaries stand down, and might even give them new material to work with as they draft their biased memos.