The Intelligence Trap: Revolutionise your Thinking and Make Wiser Decisions

by David Robson

A Taxonomy of Wisdom Actively open-minded thinking: The deliberate pursuit of alternative viewpoints and evidence that may question our opinions. Cognitive inoculation: A strategy to reduce biased reasoning by deliberately exposing ourselves to examples of flawed arguments. Collective intelligence: A team’s ability to reason as one unit. Although it is very loosely connected to IQ, factors such as the social sensitivity of the team’s members seem to be far more important. Desirable difficulties: A powerful concept in education: we actually learn better if our initial understanding is made harder, not easier. See also Growth mindset. Emotional compass: A combination of interoception (sensitivity to bodily signals), emotion differentiation (the capacity to label your feelings in precise detail) and emotion regulation that together help us to avoid cognitive and affective biases. Epistemic accuracy: Someone is epistemically accurate if their beliefs are supported by reason and factual evidence. Epistemic curiosity: An inquisitive, interested, questioning attitude; a hunger for information. Not only does curiosity improve learning; the latest research shows that it also protects us from motivated reasoning and bias. Foreign language effect: The surprising tendency to become more rational when speaking a second language. Growth mindset: The belief that talents can be developed and trained. Although the early scientific research on mindset focused on its role in ...