Software for Your Head

PATTERN: PRETEND

PROBLEM

You reject new alternative beliefs before you understand them.

SOLUTION

Don't resist a new idea. Instead, pretend that it is valuable and experiment with it, until you understand it.

People can get stuck thinking and behaving in ways that don't work very well. When it comes to an idea that implies changing behavior patterns, most individuals prefer to argue before understanding it.

He bellows at the professor, pointing his finger accusingly, “That is ridiculous! Periodic, schmeriodic! Put everything in a little table. Control it. It's a cult!”

For example, most students wouldn't consider arguing with a college professor about the value of an idea that they are paying him to tell them. Picture this scenario:

A first-year ...