Ennui (pronounced on-wee) is chronic boredom that involves weariness, apathy, dissatisfaction, and lack of fulfillment. Some people experience a general sense of ennui in life, whereas others experience it in a specific domain, like their hobbies or work. For example, someone might experience ennui when it comes to a hobby that they previously loved, …
Knoll’s law of media accuracy is the adage that “everything you read in the newspapers is absolutely true, except for the rare story of which you happen to have firsthand knowledge”. Essentially, Knoll’s law suggests that people often assume that everything they hear in the media is true, except for cases where they’re familiar …
Equivocation is the deliberate use of vague or ambiguous language, with the intent of deceiving others or avoiding commitment to a specific stance. For example, when a person is asked a direct yes-or-no question, and gives a vague response that doesn’t answer the question, that person is equivocating. The equivocation fallacy is a logical fallacy …
The Sagan standard is the adage that “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” (a concept abbreviated as ECREE). This signifies that if a claim seems extremely unlikely to be true, usually because of relevant past evidence, then it should be supported by extremely strong evidence before it’s accepted. For example, based on the Sagan standard, …
Opportunity cost is the value of the best alternative that you miss out on as a result of choosing a different option. For example, if a person chose to invest in a certain venture, their opportunity cost is the money they could have made by investing in a different venture, and namely in the …
False equivalence is a logical fallacy where someone incorrectly asserts that two (or more) things are equivalent simply because they share some characteristics, despite there also being substantial differences between them. For example, a false equivalence is saying that cats and dogs are the same animal, since they’re both mammals and have a tail. …
The verbatim effect is a cognitive bias that causes people to remember the gist of information better than its exact form, so they remember general meaning better than specific details. For example, when people read a long text, they’re more likely to remember its core message than how exactly it was phrased. Accounting for …
Memento mori is a Latin phrase that means “remember that you will die”. It is meant to remind you of your own mortality, and of the brevity and fragility of human life. ‘Memento mori’ has been mentioned as an important principle by many people throughout history, and implementing it in your own life can …
Jumping to conclusions is a phenomenon where people reach a conclusion prematurely, on the basis of insufficient information. For example, a person jumping to conclusions might assume that someone they just met is angry at them, simply because that person wasn’t smiling at them while they talked, even though there are many alternative explanations …
The fear of missing out (FOMO) occurs when people worry that they’re missing out or will miss out on a seemingly rewarding opportunity. Most often, FOMO has to do with rewarding opportunities that other people—especially ones in a person’s social circle—are a part of. A common example of FOMO is being worried about missing …