"28. Curiosity Zone:"

"5. Google Scholar Effect: We all get our answers from whatever tops the search results, so these results come to dominate a topic, muscling out unluckier viewpoints."

"1. Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon:"

"When we notice something new, like an unusual word, we start seeing it more often. It feels like it's become more common but really we're just more alert to it, and we confuse our attention with reality itself. Hence conspiracy theories."

"We often try to avoid info that we fear will cause us stress. Thus bills and work emails remain unopened, bank balances remain unchecked."

"3. Nobel Disease: We idolize those who excel in a particular field, inflating their egos and afflicting them with the hubris to opine on matters they know little about."

"Online content that provokes people gets more engagement than content people merely agree with, which incentivizes content creators to be provocative."

"8. Mimetic Desire: Craving is contagious; watching other people want a thing makes us want it too. It's why ads are so effective."

"10. Ellsberg Paradox: People prefer a clear risk over an unclear one, even if it's no safer."

"11. Veblen Goods: We often attach value to things simply because they're hard to get."

"12. Peter Principle: People in a hierarchy such as a business or government will be promoted until they suck at their jobs, at which point they will remain where they are. As a result, the world is filled with people who suck at their jobs."

"13. Meme Theory: An ideology parasitizes the mind, changing the host’s behavior so they spread it to other people. Therefore, a successful ideology (the only kind we hear about) is not configured to be true; it is configured only to be easily transmitted and easily believed."

"16. Lindy Effect: The longer a non-biological system has existed, the longer it's likely to exist, because its age demonstrates its ability to weather the fickleness of fashions and the erosion of eons."

"18. Shibboleth: An absurd ideological belief is a form of tribal signaling. It signifies that one considers their ideology more important than truth, reason, or sanity."

"21. Law of Triviality:"

"Projects that require the least attention tend to get the most."

"22. Chilling Effect: When punishment for what people say becomes widespread, people stop saying what they really think and instead say whatever is needed to thrive in the social environment."

"25. Purity Spiral: Members of political tribes inevitably begin competing with their fellows to be the most ideologically pure."

"The press lost its monopoly on news when the internet democratized info. To save its business model, it pivoted from journalism into tribalism. The new role of the press is not to inform its readers but to confirm what they already believe."

"Curiosity is the desire to fill gaps in knowledge. Thus, curiosity occurs not when you know nothing about something, but when you know a bit about it. So learn a little about as much as you can (like you're doing now!), and it will spur you to learn even more."

"30: Brandolini's Law (aka the Bullshit Asymmetry Principle): It takes a lot more energy to refute bullshit than to produce it. Hence, the world is full of unrefuted bullshit."

"33. The Two-Minute Rule: If a task would take less than two minutes, do it immediately. This is because adding the task to your mental to-do list, keeping it in your memory, and managing the anxiety of not having done it will take far more effort than just doing it now."

"34. Promethean Gap: Technology is outpacing wisdom; we're changing the world faster than we can adapt to it. Lagging ever more behind accelerating progress, we're increasingly unable to foresee the effects of what we create. We're amassing the power of gods, yet we remain apes."

"36. Gurwinder's Third Paradox: In order for you to beat someone in a debate, your opponent needs to realize they've lost. Therefore, it's easier to win an argument against a genius than an idiot."

"Writing has existed for <2% of human history, so our brains are not evolved for reading; we need vocal/facial cues for context."

"40. Empty Name: We can be convinced that a concept is real by the mere fact that it has a name, but the world is full of names for things that aren't real (e.g. Batman)."