This post is a continuation on my earlier Deeper Reflection post.
To start the session, we discussed :Why do Smart People do Dumb Things. How can someone so Smart be so Stupid?
People buy high and sell low. They believe in superstition. They figure it can’t happen to them. People talked on the cellphone while driving. They supersize their fries and burgers and order the diet Coke. I read an article somewhere recently saying that the reason smart people can sometimes be stupid is that intelligence and rationality are different.
“There is a narrow set of cognitive skills that we track and that we call intelligence. But that’s not the same as intelligent behaviour in the real world,” Stanovich says. Stanovich is an adjunct professor of human development and applied psychology at the University of Toronto who studies intelligence and rationality.
Real world demands require more than intelligence but rational thinking styles and skills. Human thinking is the product of two different channels or systems. System 1 thinking is instinctive, emotion based and faster, while System 2 thinking is more deliberate, effortful and hence slower. We switch between System 1 and 2 subconsciously all the time.
It is not how well we think, but whether we choose to engage our brains for deliberate thinking that determines our rationality.
What this means is that even though we can, often we choose not to think. Thus, I always quote “ Thinking is the hardest thing to do. ~ Henry Ford”
I think its time to give our good old brain a workout!
Our session continues…. Deeper Self-Reflection
Deep Reflection on….
Reflection No. 3 Awareness – Whenever there is negativity in you, if you can be aware at that moment that there is something in you that takes pleasure in it or believes it has a useful purpose, you are becoming aware of the ego directly. The moment this happens your identity has shifted from ego to awareness. this means the ego is shrinking and awareness is growing.
Self awareness is developed through practices in focusing your attention on the details of your personality and behavior. It isn’t learned from reading a book. When you read a book you are focusing your attention on the conceptual ideas in the book. With your attention in a book you are practicing not paying attention to your own behavior, emotions and personality.
Think of learning to be mindful and self aware as learning to dance. When learning to dance we have to pay attention to how and where our feet move, our hands and body motion, what our partner is doing, music, beat, floor space, and other dancers. Self awareness isn’t learned from books and the Tango isn’t either.
Momentum Learning: What are you aware about yourself?
We will continue our next session on more new learnings and reflection.
See you all in our next session again.
With Love & Light,
Katherine Goh
The Power of Self-Mastery with KatherineGoh 
One thought on “Nov 1st Connective Session: New Learning – Deeper Reflection Part 2”