Tausi Insider

Photo : Pressmaster ( Shutterstock ) Have you ever been baffled by how someone can believe a conspiracy theory that obviously doesn’t hold together? Well, flip that around for a second and think about yourself: Do you really understand all the things that you have strong opinions or beliefs about? Chances are, you don’t. This is the “ illusion of explanatory depth .” It happens when we think we have a deep understanding of a subject, but if you were to ask us to explain it, we’d hit a wall basically immediately. What is explanatory depth? As a paper describing the subject puts it: “People feel they understand complex phenomena with far greater precision, coherence, and depth than they really do.” This illusion can apply to what you believe about political or social causes, for example. Maybe you’re excited to volunteer or donate for something, but that’s based more on feelings and opinions than a full understanding of the issue. One study asked people to explain the policies ...

Photo : fizkes ( Shutterstock ) Staying focused in a world of nonstop work emails and social media notifications is a never-ending challenge. As much as we talk about the importance (and difficulty) of sustained, deep focus, there are other types of attention, all of which have their usefulness. There’s the creativity that springs from boredom; the comfort of engaging in a mindless, routine activity; and even the satisfaction that comes from powering through a tough— but dreaded— task. “Attention has typically been thought of as being in two states: focused and unfocused,” said Gloria Mark, a researcher and author of the book Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity . “As it turns out, it’s much more nuanced than that.” What are the four types of attention? As Mark and other researchers are discovering , attention has two components: challenge and engagement. Deep focus, which is what we usually think of in regards to attention,...

Photo : Dilok Klaisataporn ( Shutterstock ) Many new year’s resolutions (and old year’s resolutions ) involve starting new, life-improving habits. And while that’s a great idea in theory, the reality is that making lifestyle changes is really hard. Unfortunately, there’s no silver-bullet solution to this problem, but there is a common mistake many people make when beginning new habits. Here’s what to know, including how to avoid it. Why starting a new habit is so hard While having lofty goals is one thing, it’s important to have realistic expectations for yourself. But even that’s hard. TikTok and Instagram are awash with posts that condense months—or even years—of hard work into one-minute transformation videos. We want and expect instant gratification, but sadly, that’s not how habit forming works. The figures vary, but one study suggests that it usually takes around two months of doing something to make it a habit—and a lot of us don’t make it that long. So where do we go wro...

Photo : fizkes ( Shutterstock ) Grit, or the drive to persevere despite setbacks, is a favorite subject in the teaching world. It’s not that grit doesn’t exist—we can certainly describe this trait in others, or in ourselves. But there is a popular idea that grit is the most important thing, that it makes all the difference between underachievers and star students. That’s a huge oversimplification, of course. For one thing, we have to ask ourselves what kind of obstacles we’re putting in students’ way that they need so much grit to overcome them. Educators have pointed out that it’s easier to say something is wrong with a student (not enough grit) than to fix the problems they are actually encountering. And even when we look at grit in terms of personal traits, another educator observes that “most people do not persevere at things because they are good at persevering, they persevere because they find things that are worth investing in.” https://www.tausiinsider.com/stockholm...

Photo : Pressmaster ( Shutterstock ) Have you ever been baffled by how someone can believe a conspiracy theory that obviously doesn’t hold together? Well, flip that around for a second and think about yourself: Do you really understand all the things that you have strong opinions or beliefs about? Chances are, you don’t. This is the “ illusion of explanatory depth .” It happens when we think we have a deep understanding of a subject, but if you were to ask us to explain it, we’d hit a wall basically immediately. What is explanatory depth? As a paper describing the subject puts it: “People feel they understand complex phenomena with far greater precision, coherence, and depth than they really do.” This illusion can apply to what you believe about political or social causes, for example. Maybe you’re excited to volunteer or donate for something, but that’s based more on feelings and opinions than a full understanding of the issue. One study asked people to explain the policies ...