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1-Page Summary of Loserthink
Overview
Since the advent of smartphones and social media, we have been bombarded with opinions. These are often biased or simply untrue. We also lack the ability to think rationally about these ideas because we were not taught how in school. As a result, even those who are intelligent can fail to see beyond their own biases and limits.
If you have ever let your ego affect your decisions, criticized someone without understanding his point of view, or abandoned a seemingly overwhelming project, then you might be guilty of loserthink – the author’s term for unproductive thinking. You can break out of it with these key points in hand.
Here are some key points from the book. First, the author became a world-renowned cartoonist without any training. Second, hypnotists use tricks to help their patients make drastic life changes. Lastly, climate change isn’t as bad as you think it is.
Big Idea #1: Think of your ego as a tool rather than your identity.
At some point in your life, you’ve probably found yourself in a room full of people who seem to be capable and felt intimidated. But have you ever considered that everyone is putting on a performance? Some people are close to their true selves, but most are doing it for the sake of the public and hoping that other people will buy it.
If you don’t naturally have confidence, then here’s a trick: treat your ego as a tool that you can use to get what you want.
In situations where your ego will help you, it’s good to be confident. For example, if you’re trying to get a job or win over someone romantically, confidence can help because people who are more confident tend to do better on tests and interviews. In general, people with high self-esteem tend to be more successful than those without it.
One way to project confidence is through your body language. If you have good posture, maintain eye contact and take up a lot of space in a room, people will see you as confident. When they perceive you that way, they’ll treat you better, fueling your confidence further. However, there are times when it might be in your best interests to dial down the ego; if you let it run wild then people may perceive arrogance which could cost you your career.
Scott Adams was working on his comic strip, Dilbert, when he realized that his fans were more interested in the office-themed comics than anything else. He could have ignored their feedback and continued to build the comic based on what he personally found funny. Instead, he reshaped Dilbert into a workplace comedy. By listening to his readers’ feedback instead of letting his ego get in the way, Adams made Dilbert a national sensation and paved the way for him to be successful as an entrepreneur and cartoonist.
Big Idea #2: Overreliance on history is a sure sign of loserthink.
We often look to the past to find patterns or meaning that might help guide us in our lives. However, we should be careful because history isn’t always reliable. For example, when I was in school, I learned that Native Americans were too primitive to understand the concept of private property and European settlers let them live on reservations for free.
When we look at history, it’s easy to see that different cultures have very different points of view. For example, a Native American might say that European colonists invaded their land and committed genocide. However, the Europeans would argue that they were simply spreading civilization to a savage people who didn’t know what was good for them. History is subjective in this manner because every country teaches its citizens about its own history in a way that makes the country look good.
