FS | BRAIN FOOD
July 27, 2025 - #639 - read online - Free Version
Welcome to Brain Food, a weekly newsletter that helps you master the best of what other people have already figured out so you can use their insights in your life.
Tiny Thoughts
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While the rest of us are chasing victory, the best in the world know what they must avoid losing before they can win.
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The three lenses of opportunity cost: (1) Compared with what? (2) And then what? (3) At the expense of what?
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A good reminder from Clear Thinking:
It doesn't matter what position you find yourself in right now. What matters is whether you improve your position today. Every ordinary moment is an opportunity to make the future easier or harder.
Insights
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Schopenhauer on the relationship between freedom and solitude:
"He who does not enjoy solitude will not love freedom."
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Author and philosopher Eric Hoffer on adapting to change:
"In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists."
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Magnus Carlsen on learning from others:
"I have the utmost respect for -- for the masters of the past and they've -- you know, they've uncovered many of the secrets in chess so I think for me my main task is just to try and make slight improvements on that, you know, to amass all the knowledge and try to all the time use that and improve a little bit."
The Knowledge Project [Legends]
Daniel Kahneman (1934 to 2024) won the Nobel Prize for proving we're not as rational as we think.
You'd never know it by listening, but this conversation with Danny took place years ago, and most people reading this have never heard it.
In a world of disposable content, this conversation, which is both timeless and timely, is exactly the type of conversation I try to have on the Knowledge Project.
As I re-listened this summer, I created a list of 11 takeaways for myself:
1. Delay Your Intuition: Most people form an impression in seconds and spend the rest of their time confirming it. The best wait for all the information before letting their intuition speak.
2. Loss Aversion Creates Permanent Programs: Once you give people something (a perk, a feature, a benefit), it's nearly impossible to take back. The founder who would offer free lunch on day one can't cancel it on day 1000. Small groups lose something specific, while large groups gain something abstract. Every time.
3. Your Rules Become Your Default: Danny was human just like us; he often said yes to things he didn't want to do. So he created a rule. Not a goal, not an intention, a rule. It reprogrammed his unconscious mind, turning his desired behavior into his default behavior.
4. Facts Don't Form Beliefs: "I believe in climate change," Kahneman said. "I believe in the people who tell me there is climate change. The people who don't believe in climate change, they believe in other people." This is how we form all beliefs. We don't examine evidence and reach conclusions. We trust people we like, then adopt their views. "The reasons are not the causes of our beliefs," he explained. They're the stories we tell ourselves afterward. Want to change someone's mind? Facts won't do it. They need to trust you first. If they admire you, they'll find reasons to agree. If they dislike you, the best evidence won't matter. Smart people believe opposite things because they trust different people.
+ Listen now on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Web/Transcript
+ Read the 7 other lessons here
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P.P.S. It turns out that bribing kids to learn works.
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