Hacker News
- Institutions try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution https://effectiviology.com/shirky-principle/ 1126 comments
- Grice’s Maxims of Conversation https://effectiviology.com/principles-of-effective-communication/ 23 comments
- The Napoleon Technique: Postponing Things to Increase Productivity https://effectiviology.com/napoleon/ 62 comments
- Fundamental attribution error https://effectiviology.com/fundamental-attribution-error/ 12 comments
- Jumping to Conclusions: When People Decide Based on Insufficient Information https://effectiviology.com/jumping-to-conclusions/ 10 comments
- The Zero-Sum Bias: When people think that everything is a competition https://effectiviology.com/zero-sum-bias/ 147 comments
- Many pseudoscientific theories are based on the divine fallacy, which is the incorrect assumption that if someone doesn’t understand the scientific explanation for a certain phenomenon or doesn’t believe it, then that phenomenon must occur as a result of divine intervention. https://effectiviology.com/divine-fallacy/ 2 comments philosophy
- It’s wrong to assume that if an argument contains a fallacy then it must necessarily be wrong, just as it’s wrong to assume that if an argument is fallacious in one aspect, then it must be fallacious in all aspects. https://effectiviology.com/fallacy-fallacy/ 9 comments philosophy
- It’s wrong to assume that if an argument contains a fallacy then it must necessarily be wrong, just as it’s wrong to assume that if an argument is fallacious in one aspect, then it must be fallacious in all aspects. https://effectiviology.com/fallacy-fallacy/ 16 comments philosophy
- The 'Principle of Charity' is the idea that when you compose a critical commentary of someone else's argument, you should criticize the best possible interpretation of that argument, in order to encourage a constructive dialogue. https://effectiviology.com/principle-of-charity/ 26 comments philosophy
- People often wrongly believe that people’s actions always lead to morally fair consequences. This can, for example, cause people to assume that if someone experiences a misfortune, then they must have done something to deserve it. https://effectiviology.com/just-world/ 12 comments cogsci
- People often wrongly assume that a situation is zero-sum, meaning that for someone to gain something someone else must lose something equivalent, even when that’s not the case. This can be an issue, for example, when it leads people to oppose policies that will help members of other social groups. https://effectiviology.com/zero-sum-bias/ 11 comments cogsci
- People often feel that statements are more memorable and persuasive when they contain a rhyme, due to a cognitive bias called the ‘rhyme-as-reason effect’. https://effectiviology.com/rhyme-as-reason/ 10 comments cogsci
- Having certain types of music and ambient noises playing while you work can lead to a variety of cognitive benefits. These benefits include enhanced creativity, an increased capacity for learning, and an improved ability to concentrate on tasks. https://effectiviology.com/benefits-of-music-and-background-noise/ 4 comments cogsci
- The false-consensus effect is a cognitive bias that causes people to overestimate the degree to which their beliefs and behaviors are shared by others. This phenomenon could explain why some people with extreme opinions wrongly assume that a large portion of the population agrees with them. https://effectiviology.com/false-consensus/ 10 comments cogsci
- TIL about the Steel Man Argument (the opposite of Straw Man), in which you debate the best possible version of an argument. I'll use that to talk to well intentioned Bitcoin BTC supporters https://effectiviology.com/principle-of-charity/ 17 comments btc
- People often struggle to understand how others feel, or to predict how they themselves would act if they were in the same situation that someone else is in. This phenomenon, called the ‘empathy gap’, is especially prevalent in situations that involve intense feelings or emotions. https://effectiviology.com/empathy-gap/ 4 comments cogsci
- People often decide how to act based on what they think others are doing, a phenomenon known as the 'bandwagon effect'. This can influence anything from the political candidate that they choose to support, to which comments they upvote on social media. https://effectiviology.com/bandwagon/ 8 comments cogsci
- The burden of proof is one of the most important concepts that are used to guide how we conduct proper discourse. Unfortunately, it’s also a concept that people frequently misinterpret, or ignore entirely. https://effectiviology.com/burden-of-proof/ 3 comments philosophy
- A reason why people continue to believe in misinformation, despite attempted refutations, is that hearing about it causes them to remember it as true, due to the familiarity backfire effect. Accounting for this when presenting corrective information increases the effectiveness of debunking attempts. https://effectiviology.com/familiarity-backfire-effect/ 4 comments cogsci
- It’s wrong to assume that if an argument contains a fallacy then it must necessarily be wrong, just as it’s wrong to assume that if an argument is fallacious in one aspect, then it must be fallacious in all aspects. https://effectiviology.com/fallacy-fallacy/ 519 comments philosophy
- High levels of social-media use are associated with a variety of mental-health issues, such as anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. Certain people are more vulnerable to this than others, including those who are lonely and those who are prone to social comparisons. https://effectiviology.com/dangers-of-social-media/ 4 comments cogsci
- The confirmation bias causes people to search for information that confirms their beliefs and to ignore information that contradicts them. This prevalent cognitive bias could explain why people continue to believe in pseudoscientific myths, long those myths have been refuted. https://effectiviology.com/confirmation-bias/ 4 comments cogsci
- People remember information better when it has a humorous component. This has important implications for teaching, since the use of humor has been shown to significantly improve students’ ability to learn new material. https://effectiviology.com/humor-effect/ 6 comments cogsci
- Living and working in areas with green spaces leads to improvements in people's mental health and emotional wellbeing, as evident, for example, in a reduced likelihood of suffering from depression or anxiety. https://effectiviology.com/how-plants-make-you-happier-healthier-and-more-productive/ 3 comments cogsci
- A loaded question is a question which contains an underlying assumption that the person who is being questioned is likely to disagree with. This rhetoric technique is frequently used in debates, so it’s beneficial to understand how it works, how to respond to it, and how to avoid using it yourself. https://effectiviology.com/loaded-question/ 89 comments philosophy
- Many pseudoscientific theories are based on the divine fallacy, which is the incorrect assumption that if someone doesn’t understand the scientific explanation for a certain phenomenon or doesn’t believe it, then that phenomenon must occur as a result of divine intervention. https://effectiviology.com/divine-fallacy/ 954 comments philosophy
- People often ignore inconvenient truths or information that they don’t want to deal with. This can be explained by the ‘Ostrich Effect’, which is a cognitive bias that causes people to avoid information that they perceive as negative. https://effectiviology.com/ostrich-effect/ 13 comments cogsci
- Personal ad-hominem attacks are unfortunately becoming more and more prevalent in debates. It’s important to understand how such attacks work and what types of them exist, so you can counter them successfully. https://effectiviology.com/ad-hominem-fallacy/ 1241 comments philosophy
- One reason why people continue to believe in common pseudoscientific theories is because it’s easier for them to accept those theories, than to understand the scientific information which is used to debunk them. Accounting for this can help make debunking attempts more successful https://effectiviology.com/overkill-backfire-effect/ 760 comments science
- Logical fallacies play a huge role in how people think and in how they communicate. Understanding how fallacies work and why they occur is the key to understanding how you can deal with them effectively. https://effectiviology.com/guide-to-logical-fallacies/ 735 comments philosophy
- The 'Principle of Charity' is the idea that when you compose a critical commentary of someone else's argument, you should criticize the best possible interpretation of that argument, in order to encourage a constructive dialogue. https://effectiviology.com/principle-of-charity/ 720 comments philosophy
- The ‘Appeal to Nature’ Fallacy: Why Natural Isn’t Always Better https://effectiviology.com/appeal-to-nature-fallacy/ 644 comments philosophy
- “The horse raced past the barn fell”: on garden path sentences and how we process language https://effectiviology.com/avoid-garden-path-sentences-in-your-writing/ 48 comments linguistics
- The Halo Effect causes people to judge other people’s personality and actions based on how attractive they are https://effectiviology.com/halo-effect/ 148 comments science
- Facts are not enough: research shows that people often ignore evidence which contradicts their beliefs, and sometimes even support their original stance more strongly in the face of evidence that they are wrong. https://effectiviology.com/backfire-effect-facts-dont-change-minds/ 22 comments science
- The Strawman Fallacy: what it is and how you can counter people who use it https://effectiviology.com/straw-man-arguments-recognize-counter-use/ 446 comments philosophy
- Increase the number of key transformations to improve the security of your password manager https://effectiviology.com/password-manager-secure-setting-iterations 5 comments netsec
- People significantly overestimate how noticeable their embarrassing behaviors are to others https://effectiviology.com/spotlight-effect-stop-being-self-conscious/ 111 comments science
- Lessons in Stoic Philosophy from Marcus Aurelius https://effectiviology.com/practical-lessons-stoic-philosophy-marcus-aurelius 4 comments philosophy