Being in a new environment, like a tourist in a new city, removes the social pressure to appear knowledgeable. This frees you to ask fundamental "why" questions, fostering a more curious and childlike state that is highly conducive to learning.
When confronting seemingly false facts in a discussion, arguing with counter-facts is often futile. A better approach is to get curious about the background, context, and assumptions that underpin their belief, as most "facts" are more complex than they appear.
Research on contentious topics finds that individuals with the most passionate and extreme views often possess the least objective knowledge. Their strong feelings create an illusion of understanding that blocks them from seeking or accepting new information.
The more people learn about a subject, the more they realize how much they don't know. This contradicts the idea that expertise leads to arrogance. Novices, who are unaware of a field's complexity, are often the most overconfident.
Psychologists can predict the severity of a person's depressive and anxious symptoms not by the content of their trauma, but by the form of their narrative. Recurring, stuck narratives, or what is called the "same old story," correlate with poorer mental health outcomes.
We live in "communities of knowledge" where expertise is distributed. Simply being part of a group where others understand a topic (e.g., politics, technology) creates an inflated sense that we personally understand it, contributing to the illusion of individual knowledge.
Resolving unfinished business after a relationship ends is a personal task. Imaginary dialogues can be more effective for emotional processing than real conversations with the other person, who may be unavailable or unwilling. Closure comes from within, not from external validation.
A structured exercise for unpacking grief involves making three lists: 1) the good things you've lost, 2) the bad things you no longer have to tolerate, and 3) the unrealized future hopes and dreams. This provides a complete emotional accounting of the loss.