Useful Not True
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Chapters:
- Definitions of “true” and “useful”
- To reframe, first remove the existing frame
Almost nothing people say is true
- What time is it?
- No picture is the whole picture
- Evidence is not proof
- Explanations are invented
- The past is not true
- Memories are not accurate
- The future is what we call imagination
- People share perspectives, not facts
- Needy, stubborn, inappropriate flirt
- Obligations are not true
- Rules mean it’s a game that can change.
- Explanations help empathy
- Cultural meanings
- Alien surveillance
Your thoughts aren’t true
- That was about you, not them
- River, Accent, You are the strange one
- Hearts can be hacked
- You can’t trust your mind
- Make believe
- Beliefs are not facts
- The more emotional the belief, the less likely it’s true
- Override your instincts with wisdom
Ideas are useful, not true
- What is “the truth” really for?
- A daily run and imagination
- Beliefs → emotions → actions
- What’s the point of belief?
- Religion is action not belief
- Carpenters’ toolbox
- Judge the contents, not the box
- Your ten million dollars
- The doctor and the healing cat statue
- Which side of the story works for you?
- It shows what you need to believe
- Life is _______
- AI characters learning to walk
- Even science isn’t true
- Philosophies are instruments
Find better perspectives
- Reframe
- A great detective goes beyond the obvious
- Questions to start
- Keep a big toolbox of perspectives
- Curve into the target
- Re-edit your mind’s movies
- What got me here won’t get me there
- Get away from humanity to remember what’s real
Adopt what works for you
- You can’t help the way you feel?
- Adopt the thought for you for now
- Private journal to internalize it
- Talk with friends to solidify it
- Take the first step immediately
- You are what you pretend to be
- Keep tuning and adjusting
end
- Useful not through
More books on this subject
- Nothing & Everything - by Val N. Tine
- Useful Delusions - by Shankar Vedantam
- The Religious Case Against Belief - by James P. Carse
- You Can Negotiate Anything - by Herb Cohen
- How Religion Evolved - by Robin Dunbar
- The Righteous Mind - by Jonathan Haidt
- Awaken the Giant Within - by Tony Robbins
- Thinking in Bets - by Annie Duke
- Sapiens - by Yuval Noah Harari
- Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches - by Marvin Harris
- What Got You Here Won’t Get You There - by Marshall Goldsmith
- Switch - by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
- The Happiness Hypothesis - by Jonathan Haidt
- Dreaming in Chinese - by Deborah Fallows
- Pragmatism - by William James
- Pragmatism an Introduction - by Michael Bacon
- Introducing Pragmatism - by Cornelis de Waal
- Pragmatism as a Way of Life - by Ruth Anna and Hilary Putnam
- Delphi Complete Works of William James - by William James
- The Biggest Bluff - by Maria Konnikova
- Philosophy: a Complete Introduction - by Sharon Kaye
- Thinking, Fast and Slow - by Daniel Kahneman
- How We Decide - by Jonah Lehrer
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Dummies - by Rob Willson and Rhena Branch
- The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy - by Donald Robertson
- The Alter Ego Effect - by Todd Herman
- How to Live - by Sarah Bakewell
- You Are Not So Smart - by David McRaney
- Overachievement - by John Eliot
- Scepticism: A Very Short Introduction - by Duncan Pritchard
- Being Logical: A Guide to Good Thinking - by D.Q. McInerny
- Loving What Is - by Byron Katie
- Everything Is Obvious - by Duncan Watts
- Useful Belief - by Chris Helder