The podcast explores the concept of delusions and how they affect our interactions with others. It discusses the importance of learning from history and respecting others' delusions. The episode also dives into how our brains resolve uncertainty and the influence of desire on belief. It further explores the impact of beliefs and delusions on decision-making, including the role of personal incentives and the dangers of basing decisions solely on emotion and passion.
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Quick takeaways
Accept that everyone, including oneself, holds deluded beliefs, and have empathy for others.
Delusions are caused by personal experiences shaping perspectives and emotions distorting judgment.
Deep dives
Importance of memorable sentences and delusions
People remember memorable sentences rather than the full body of work, and a quote from Will and Ariel Durant's book 'The Lessons of History' emphasizes learning from history to have patience with reality and respect others' delusions. It highlights the importance of accepting that everyone, including oneself, holds deluded beliefs. Empathy is encouraged towards others whose delusions may not be obvious to them. It is noted that people are better at spotting flaws in others than in themselves. However, if delusions harm others, they should not be tolerated.
Causes of delusions and the role of emotions
Three major causes of delusions are discussed: reliance on personal experiences, the influence of how much one wants something to be true, and the tendency to fill the void of imperfect information with emotion and passion. Personal experiences shape individual perspectives, leading to disagreement and miscommunication rather than genuine debates. The impact of emotions and passion can distort judgment and prevent nuanced understanding, replacing factual knowledge with a false sense of absolute truth. Delusions affect everyone, though individuals vary in susceptibility and recognition of their own delusions.
One sentence that knocked me off my feet when I read Will and Ariel Durant’s The Lessons of History was: "Learn enough from history to bear reality patiently, and respect one another’s delusions."
I love that so much.
The key here is accepting that everyone is deluded in their own unique way. You, me, all of us.
When you realize that you – the good, noble, well-meaning, even-tempered, fact-driven person that you are – have views of how the world works that are sure to be incomplete if not completely wrong, you should have empathy for others whose deluded beliefs are obvious to you. I am such a fan of Daniel Kahneman’s observation that we are better at spotting other people’s flaws than our own.
This episode shares three reasons why all of us become deluded in our own way.
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