factfulness #3

welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj, a 19 y/o always up to something in social good x tech.

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onto today’s topic: factfulness (part 3) ✒️ 

i’m finally on the final few instincts that distort our perspective of the world. you can read the first and second part here.

7) the destiny instinct 💫 

this describes our tendency to succumb to perceived inevitability. we believe, “well that’s just how it’s meant to be,” because of innate characteristics. this further amplifies the gap instinct and generalization instinct, leading us not only to believe it’s true, but fated and unchanging.

8) the single perspective instinct 🤔 

“being always in favour of or always against any particular idea makes you blind to information that doesn’t fit your perspective.”

we instinctually believe that we’re correct, and it’s hard to break that habit. play devil’s advocate. scrutinize your own ideas as though you were on the opposing side. rather than talking only to those who agree with you, seek out people who contradict you and challenge your ideas. stop rejecting relationships that introduce different perspectives.

9) the blame instinct

i’ve already written a whole post on just this, so i won’t go into it again.

10) the urgency instinct 🚨 

this one is pretty self-explanatory, but it describes our immediate reaction of fight or flight. the reality of most cases is that we can stop to evaluate the situation and devise an appropriate plan, choosing neither option. when in the face of a setback for shipping a new update in your app, don’t panic and start frantically patching random bugs. stop, find the root cause, give yourself time to fix the problem, and discuss it with a team. the urgency instinct can lead us astray when it comes to our understanding of the world around us, so take a deep breath.

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