Your Least Favorite Screwdriver

One thing that people have observed that’s a bit unusual about me is that I use such a wide variety of models and tools in my work, and I don’t seem to have a problem when the rules of reality that those models are based upon seem to be in conflict. For instance, I can write from a neuroscience perspective in one article, and in another piece I might be talking about spiritual energy. This gives me a lot of flexibility. I might use one set of models when talking to an engineer and a different set when talking to a yoga instructor. There are several reasons I like to leverage a wide variety of models. One is that I like results. Some ways of modeling reality produce better results than others. And so given a choice between worse results and better results, I try to favor models that produce better results. I also grew up with conflicting models as they were taught in school. My religious upbringing was full of holes, so I was used to dealing with models that didn’t add up logically, yet I was expected to apply them anyway. So I had plenty of years to practice dealing with disagreeing models, like reading the Bible one hour and then reading a biology textbook the next. I could still get As in both classes, as long as I used the appropriate models for each. I’ve also studied history, including the history of science, so I learned that human models evolve over time. We are often wrong about reality, especially when we’re certain weR...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Creating Reality Source Type: blogs