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- Stop arguing, start noticing your blind spots
Stop arguing, start noticing your blind spots
Self‐awareness turns conflicts into win‐win talks by revealing hidden decision drivers.
Mario Peshev
May 04, 2025
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Welcome to The Smarter Brain, a curation of thought-provoking ideas and actionable reads to help you build better habits and become more productive.
Happy reading - See you on Wednesday!
Cheers,
The Smarter Brain Team
Estimated Reading Time: 2 mins
3 Ideas for Better Habits
Skills That Serve
Behavioral economist, Dan Ariely, on long‑term focus.
“Giving up on our long‑term goals for immediate gratification, my friends, is procrastination.”
What Matters Most, Momentarily
Nobel laureate & psychologist, Daniel Kahneman, on perceived importance.
“Nothing in life is as important as you think it is, while you are thinking about it.”
Source: Thinking, Fast and Slow
Patterns Beyond Logic
Novelist & screenwriter, Mark Haddon, on the mystery of primes.
“Prime numbers are what is left when you have taken all the patterns away. I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them.”
Science Stories You Can’t Get Anywhere Else
Feed your curiosity with Nautilus — a science newsletter for thinkers, seekers, and the endlessly curious. Each week, we bring you beautifully written stories at the intersection of science, philosophy, and culture. From the physics of time to the psychology of awe, our essays, interviews, and ideas dive beneath the surface and linger in the mind.
Join a global community of readers who believe that big questions deserve thoughtful answers. Whether you're a lifelong learner or just love a good mystery of the universe, Nautilus will challenge how you see the world — and maybe even yourself.
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Productivity Tools and Resources
Why Self-Awareness Beats Strategy
When entering a negotiation - whether it’s requesting a raise or convincing a partner to do the dishes - we typically concentrate on persuading the other person to accept our desired outcome. What often goes unnoticed, however, are our own biases and blind spots. Behavioral scientist Max Bazerman, who explores the theory and practice of negotiation, suggests that recognizing these internal biases can lead to more effective and mutually beneficial agreements.
The Science Behind Lasting Personal Change
Why do we struggle to change habits, manage emotions, or cope with loss? Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) offers practical, science-backed techniques to help reframe thoughts, regulate behavior, and improve mental well-being. Learn how to retrain your brain and take control of your emotions through a research-backed approach to lasting self-improvement.
What We're Reading
Google re:Work - Align your team with clear goals using OKRs to drive progress, boost performance, and measure success, ensuring everyone works toward a shared purpose with measurable outcomes.
Brain Food
Today I Learned: Sharks existed before trees — they’ve been swimming Earth’s oceans for over 400 million years, predating the first trees by about 50 million years. (Source)
Science: Researchers discovered that the human brain shrinks slightly during long spaceflights, which may affect astronauts' balance and vision. (Source)
Have a productive rest of your week,
The Smarter Brain Team
Resource Spotlight
Monthly Experiments, Visual Explainers, Tangible Impact
Monthly dispatches unpack real‑world behavioral experiments, visual explainers, and handy frameworks, equipping designers, policymakers, and entrepreneurs to translate cognitive science into nudges, habit loops, and measurable social impact without academic jargon.
Start turning research into real‑world impact
Where Psychiatry, Statistics, and Storytelling Collide
Deep‑dive essays blending psychiatry, numbers, and cultural critique challenge complacent narratives, test prevailing statistics, and invite readers into a lively commentariat wrestling skeptically with evidence, uncertainty, and the ethics of rational discourse.
Turn Curiosity into Charts
A quick Wednesday missive delivering five unusual, open datasets plus clever context, turning curiosity into actionable analysis and sparking data‑driven storytelling ideas you can remix for research, journalism, or classroom adventures.
Dive straight into the latest edition here
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