Psychologyspeaking topic
The availability heuristic: why do we think things are more likely just because examples come easily to mind? How does this explain being afraid to fly right after news of a plane crash?
— Tversky & Kahneman, availability heuristic
practice with this topic
Set the timer (5-30 min), take 20 seconds of prep if you like, start talking. Jot your thoughts onto the sticky-note board.
similar topics
- The paradox of choice: Barry Schwartz argues that more options don't set us free, they paralyze us and leave us less happy. Would fewer options actually make us freer?
- In a moment of deja vu you say 'I've lived this before' but can never say when or how. If it were a real memory, wouldn't you recall the details? Maybe deja vu is not a memory at all but the brain slapping its 'familiar' label on the wrong moment. How can the feeling of familiarity operate separately from memory itself?
- Self-handicapping: deliberately not studying before an exam so you can say 'well, I never prepared' protects your ego if you fail. Why do we sometimes build ourselves an excuse to fail?
- Functional fixedness: why do we see an object only in its usual role and miss other solutions? How hard is it for the mind to step out of a familiar groove?
- Adler's inferiority complex: the same feeling of deficiency crushes one person and drives another to extraordinary achievement. What makes the difference?