Doug Bend

Red pill I've swallowed recently: Thinking Cost When I'm thinking about something -- there's trillions of other thoughts I could've had instead. The Human Brain Paradox: 1. Your brain is a supercomputer 2. Your brain can only have 1 thought at a time Every thought has Opportunity Cost. This is why toxic and dramatic people are dangerous. They hijack your supercomputers RAM with 1x thought loops. In the shower. On a walk. Lay in bed. Working out. With your kids. The cortisol thought gets admin access to the supercomputer. 1. This is terrible for your health 2. The biggest cost is the other thoughts you could be having instead When your supercomputer is busy with these nonsense 1x thoughts -- it can't run 10x thoughts like these: • "How long do I have left with my parents?" • "What career would make me happy?" • "Should I get that weird mole checked by a doctor?" • "Do I have a skill set that will be useful 5 years from now?" ----- The thinking cost problem is clear. The solutions are less clear. Some ideas I've found useful: 1. Design Environment The goal should be to design environment and social circles that prevent drama. Negative thought loops are downstream from dramatic people and events. Build firewalls. "Relentlessly prune bullshit" - Paul Graham "The 1st rule of handling conflict is don't hang around with people who are constantly engaging in conflict." - Naval 2. Close Loops When a Waiter is processing an order from a table, they have a super human ability to remember everything. As soon as the order is submitted to the kitchen, they struggle to recall it. This is the importance of closing loops. If drama has got past environmental design, the worst thing I've found is to leave the loop open. You're like the waiter repeating the order back to himself for days. Living life on a cliffhanger. The brain keeps replaying all the potential future outcomes. It's so boring -- and such a waste of critical mental oxygen. Get the order to the kitchen ASAP: Open a doc. Write out all thoughts. Design the strategy maze. Turn on Blitzkrieg mode until the problem is resolved. 3. Judo Throw In Judo, you use the other person's momentum against them. Whenever you catch yourself in a bullshit thought loop, use the momentum against itself. Ask: "What is the 10x thought loop I'm missing out on right now?" The beauty of the Judo Throw is you've turned Shit into Sugar. You use 1x thought loops momentum to create 10x thought loops. Whenever you catch yourself in a 1x thought loop -- you then immediately start pondering: "What is the 10x thought I'm missing out on right now?" ---- TLDR: The first rule of thinking cost is being aware of thinking cost as a concept. The second rule is realising your supercomputer is easy to hack with cortisol thought loops. The third rule is designing firewalls to prevent viruses from getting in. The fourth rule is to action all viruses as soon as they come in. Close the loop. The fifth rule is to use the viruses momentum against itself. When you notice the thought, use it as an alarm clock reminder to open up new 10x tabs.