The Age of Magical Overthinking by Amanda Montell

Author:Amanda Montell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria/One Signal Publishers
Published: 2024-04-09T00:00:00+00:00

I. With cosmic irony, research on superiority complexes has found that people with depression assess their talents more objectively than others, a symptom termed “depressive realism.” A 2013 paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences noted that people with weak connectivity between their brain’s frontal lobe (responsible for our sense of self) and striatum (part of the reward system) overall thought more highly of themselves than those with stronger connections between the two areas. Dopamine neurotransmitters located in the striatum inhibit connectivity to the frontal lobe, like rocks in a dam, so the more dopamine you have, the less connectivity between the two regions, and the more blissfully flattering your self-perception will be. Conversely, depleted dopamine = more depression = more realistic self-evaluation. But the former is what’s described as “normal.” Worshiping at our own altars without question is considered the “mentally healthy” state.

II. A famous 1981 study by Swedish decision scientist Ola Svenson found that a whole 93 percent of respondents fancy themselves better behind the wheel than most.

III. Three years earlier, a survey by the Harris Poll and Lego determined that three times as many British, Chinese, and American children wanted to be YouTubers as astronauts.

IV. Not to mention, Holmes didn’t go to jail for making overconfident promises to everyday people, but rather for making overconfident promises to wealthy investors, many of whom—including right-wing media magnate Rupert Murdoch and the Walton family of Walmart fame—have, in my view (and no pun intended), more blood on their hands.

V. Speaking of ego, in early 2023 a friend asked if I’d ever prompted ChatGPT to write something “in the style of Amanda Montell.” I hadn’t, but after the seed was planted, my navel-gazing curiosity got the best of me. I asked the chatbot to write a paragraph defining cognitive biases in my voice. (“You’re so weird. It’s a Saturday. Get off the internet and go outside,” Casey told me the moment he learned I’d done this.) Reader, the exercise was bizarre. The bot’s closing line went, “Your mind is a playground, my love, and biases are the cheeky little bullies on the monkey bars.” I was simultaneously amused and offended. Do I really sound like that???

VI. awareness of one’s own thought processes

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.