Lazy or nimble ? Test your mental agility
We tend to prioritize one way of thinking, out of cognitive laziness. That simplifies our lives, of course, but it also helps restrict our intellectual agility and paralyzes our thinking. Would you know where to place yourself on the lazy thinking scale?
Depending on the circumstances and our personal preferences, we’re constantly shifting between four different thinking modes. Three of them, however, often hinder our mental agility: Be vigilant and learn how to spot them.
- The preacher: defends their values and ideals, doesn’t encourage questioning.
- The prosecutor: looks to emerge victorious from a debate, points out the faults of others without mercy.
- The politician: wants to obtain everyone’s agreement and approval; this need to please sometimes leads them to hide their true beliefs.
- The scientist: seeks out the truth by relying on a scientific approach.
This last style is the most conducive to mental agility because the scientist endeavors to not just prove their arguments, but also to identify what would make them false. This step is often missing from our reasoning, yet it is critical and requires deliberate action.
It’s up to you to play with this quick (and fun) test designed by Grant will help you pinpoint your dominant thought pattern, as well as its strengths and limitations.
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