Rosa’s Reviews > Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know > Status Update

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Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon where the desire for harmony or conformity within a group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision. Members prioritize consensus over critical thinking, suppressing dissenting opinions and ignoring alternative options to avoid conflict.

When someone becomes hostile, if you respond by viewing the argument as a war, you can either attack or retreat. If instead you treat it as a dance, you have another option—you can sidestep. Having a conversation about the conversation shifts attention away from the substance of the disagreement and toward the process for having a dialogue. -page 166

Most people think of arguments as being like a pair of scales: the more reasons we can pile up on our side, the more it will tip the balance in our favor. Yet the experts did the exact opposite:
They actually presented fewer reasons to support their case. They didn't want to water down their best points. As Rackham put it, "A weak argument generally dilutes a strong one? -page 151

Harish (31 yr old male)and Debra (8 yrs old female) are facing off in San Francisco in February 2019 in front of a large crowd. They've been kept in the dark about the debate topic. When they walk onstage, the moderator announces the subject: should preschools be subsidized by the government? -page 140

It's possible to disagree without being disagreeable. Although I'm terrified of hurting other people's feelings, when it comes to challenging their thoughts, I have no fear. -page 129

“The absence of conflict is not harmony, it’s apathy.” -page 115

Every time we encounter new information, we have a choice. We can attach our opinions to our identities and stand our ground in the stubbornness of preaching and prosecuting. Or we can operate more like scientists, defining ourselves as people committed to the pursuit of truth—even if it means proving our own views wrong. -page 109

Most of us are accustomed to defining ourselves in terms of our beliefs, ideas, and ideolo-gies. This can become a problem when it prevents us from changing our minds as the world changes and knowledge evolves. -page 92

When an idea or assumption doesn't matter deeply to us, were often excited to question it. The natural sequence of emotions is surprise ("Really?") followed by curiosity ("Tell me more!") and thrill ("Whoa!").
To paraphrase a line attributed to Isaac Asimov, great discoveries often begin not with "Eureka!" but with "That's funny..." -page 85

I have a degree from Harvard. Whenever I'm wrong, the world makes a little less sense.
—DR. FRASIER CRANE, PLAYED BY KELSEY GRAMMER

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