Review of Organized Mind by Daniel Levitin
Evolution doesn't design things and it doesn't build systems; it settles on systems that historically conveyed a survival benefit
Chapter 1 #
Satisficing: settling on an option that's not the best but good enough.
The decision-making network in our brain does not prioritize.
We can have trouble separating the trivial from the important.
Brain can only process 120 bits/second. Listening to speech is like 60 bits/second; that's why it is hard to listen to two people at once.
Attentional filters; group of neurons that filter our nervous input for what's important.
That's why you end up with INATTENTIONAL BLINDNESS; when we don't know what we are missing because the brain selectively and competely ignores things that are not priority at that moment.
ATTENTIONAL FILTERS are sensitive to change + importance.
Our attention is a limited resource hence our inability to multitask.
As humans we've adapted to find ways to retain/work with all this information.
One way is categorizing. The other way is forming EXTERNAL AIDS.
Levitin claims that highly successful people have one constant: and that is finding a system to minimize the information clutter.
The cost of attention switching is high and it impairs our ability to foucs on ONE TASK.
Chapter 2 #
Attention
There are 2 main modes:
- Mind wandering mode
- Central executive modes.
These 2 states are like ying-yang:
- Mind wandering mode is like daydreaming getting lost in thoughts etc.
- Central executive mode is when we are deliberate
There is an attention switch that helps us navigae between these two states. Mind-wandering mode is the default. It requires effort and energy to literally pay attention (switch to Central Executive mode)(it is the latter mode for handling single tasks)
One way of memorizing things is categorization.
We categorize for the sake of cognitive economy and easier processing. This is an evolutionary trait
Our memories may be not actually be replaying but actually REWRITING.
The instruction governing the neural connections for a memory are weak and degrade over time. Therefore, recalling a memory is a helter skelter/approximation.
Categorizations are evoltuionary traits so that we can remember and not get overwhelmed by details that DON'T matter.
Chapter 3 #
Find a way to categorize.
Make these categories firm even for small things like keys e.g. have a hook at the front door.
Leverage attention filter to put forceful reminders.
Practice email bankruptcy.
Learn to file things.
Chapter 4 #
Social pain causes activity in the same part of the brain as physical pain. Not surprising that a painkiller can lessen effects of rejection.
Humans are very poor at detecting lies.
What makes social difficult?
Our moods and interactions are governed a lot by neurochemical activities. Some people with social interaction problems may have problems with section and regulation of certain hormones.
As humans, we are very susceptible to FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR
You discount other factors because of information overload.
But fundamental attribution error! Outcome-biased decisions are a convenient shortcut for making inferential cues.
Another massive bias is in-group/out-group
Once we have a etched a belief system in our mind, it is hard to discard this information when the belief has been falsified.
We fail to re-evaluate stereotypes and discard new disconfirming information.
We are inactive in social situation during a mugging or hear attack because:
- Conform to others
- Social comparison
- Diffussion of social responsibility
Chapter 5 #
EAT THE FROG IN THE MORNING WHEN GUMPTION IS HIGHEST. Willpower depletes as the day goes on .
FIVE MINUTE RULE EVERY MORNING (do those tasks that would otherwise be attnetion sappers)
Can only achieve "flow state" if your skill is up to the task!!!!
Have a time value rule of thumb to decide which chores/taks you are willing to pay for in order ot free up time.
Load effect: consumers will have finite limits or how much information they can absorb and process within a given period of time.
THEREFORE, consumers make poorer choices with more information.
Maximum # of parameters when comparing choices is 10 (another book was 7).
People are unable to ignore information that's not relevant to them.
Ther is a neural cost to being presented with information you don't care about and can't use.
The more structured a system is, the less information is needed to describe it
Kolmogorov's complexity theory:
Something is truly random when you cannot explain how to derive a sequence using any fewer than the number of elements in the sequence itself.
The most disorganized system is truly random and requires the largest amoutn of information.
Carry can extra puch with everything you might need to create a mobile;
- Office
- Bathroom