vsamaru · November 5, 2022 22:15 · Sep 12, 2013
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+Five recurring, automatic patterns of thought (aka cognitive distortions) among people who get extraordinary stuff done in Silicon Valley.
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+1. Personal Exceptionalism: "I am special."
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+Definition: a macro sense that you are in the top of your cohort, your work is snowflake special, or that you are destined to have experiences well outside the bounds of "normal;" not to be confused with arrogance or high self-esteem
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+Benefit: resilience, stamina, charisma
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+Deadly risk: assuming macro exceptionalism means micro exceptionalism, brittleness
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+2. Dichotomous Thinking: "X is sh*t. Y is genius."
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+Definition: being extremely judgmental of people, experiences, things; highly opinionated at the extremes; sees black and white, little grey
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+Benefit: achieves excellence frequently
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+Deadly risk: perfectionism
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+3. Correct Overgeneralization: "I see two dots and draw the right line."
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+Definition: making universal judgments from limited observations and being right a lot of the time
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+Benefits: saves time
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+Deadly risk: addiction to instinct and indifference to data
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+4. Blank Canvas Thinking: "Painting by numbers isn't art. And I want to make art."
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+Definition: sees own life as a blank canvas, not a paint by numbers
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+Benefits: no sense of coloring outside the lines, creates surprises
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+Deadly risk: "Ars gratia artis," failure to launch, failure to scale
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+5. Schumpeterianism: "I am a creative destruction machine."
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+Definition: sees creative destruction as natural, necessary, and as their vocation
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+Benefits: fearlessness, tolerance for destruction and pain
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+Deadly risk: heartless ambition, alienation
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