Shrink Thinking
How the mind thinks, where it gets stuck, and how to think more clearly.
Overthinking (55)
Rumination
Thinking longer isn't always thinking better.
Decision Fatigue
Mental energy is spent one decision at a time.
Uncertainty
Catastrophizing
Catastrophizing mistakes possibility for probability.
Mental Filtering
Attention shapes emotional reality.
Emotional Reasoning
Emotions inform judgment. They don't replace evidence.
Analysis Paralysis
More information doesn't always produce better decisions.
Black-and-White Thinking
Reality is usually a spectrum. Black-and-white thinking compresses it into extremes.
Mind Reading
Assumptions often feel like facts. They're not.
Fortune Telling
Predictions are possibilities, not certainties.
Reassurance Seeking
Temporary reassurance can unintentionally strengthen long-term doubt.
Worry
Worry is preparation that often continues long after it becomes productive.
Cognitive Fusion
Believing every thought gives every thought unnecessary authority.
Cognitive Distancing
Distance improves perspective.
Thought Suppression
Fighting thoughts can unintentionally feed them.
Mental Replay
The past can be reviewed without becoming relived.
Mental Simulation
Mental rehearsal becomes helpful when it prepares rather than traps.
Cognitive Rumbling
Background thinking still consumes foreground energy.
Negativity Bias
The brain naturally overweights potential threats.
Cognitive Closure
The need to know can become stronger than the need to know accurately.
Intolerance of Ambiguity
Not every unanswered question has a missing answer.
Thought-Action Fusion
Thoughts are experiences, not evidence of intent.
Thinking Traps
Awareness weakens automatic thinking.
Mental Forecasting
Forecasts are estimates, not guarantees.
Intrusive Thoughts
An unwanted thought isn't the same as an unwanted intention.
Counterfactual Thinking
The past has many imagined versions, but only one actual history.
Affective Forecasting
People are often less emotionally predictable than they imagine.
Experiential Avoidance
Avoiding discomfort often strengthens it.
Belief Perseverance
Beliefs often outlive their evidence.
Availability Heuristic
The easiest memory isn't always the best estimate.
Anchoring Bias
The first number, idea, or impression often influences everything that follows.
Hindsight Bias
Knowing the outcome changes how we remember uncertainty.
Loss Aversion
The brain weighs losses more heavily than gains.
Sunk Cost Fallacy
Past costs shouldn't determine future decisions.
Status Quo Bias
Familiarity is often mistaken for safety.
Decision Avoidance
Avoiding decisions rarely avoids consequences.
Need for Control
The search for perfect control often creates greater distress.
Choice Overload
Abundance can become its own burden.
Information Overload
Knowledge has limits. Information doesn't.
Error Monitoring
Healthy monitoring improves performance. Excessive monitoring interrupts it.
Hypervigilance
A mind constantly searching for danger rarely experiences rest.
Threat Monitoring
Attention shapes perceived reality.
Optimism Bias
Hope is valuable. Accuracy is essential.
Pessimism Bias
Possible doesn't mean likely.
Self-Serving Bias
The mind often protects the ego before it protects accuracy.
Illusion of Control
Confidence doesn't create control.
Confirmation Seeking
The questions you ask determine the evidence you find.
Ambiguity Aversion
Uncertainty often feels more dangerous than it actually is.
Psychological Distance
Distance improves perspective.
Intolerance of Uncertainty
The unknown often feels worse than reality.
Decision Regret
Regret becomes valuable when it teaches instead of traps.
Cognitive Defusion
Thoughts influence you less when you stop treating them as facts.
Mental Time Travel
The same ability that helps us plan can also trap us.
Cognitive Inertia
Old thinking continues unless intentionally redirected.
Attentional Bias
Attention shapes experience before awareness does.
Better Thinking (37)
Confirmation Bias
Beliefs often shape attention before evidence shapes beliefs.
Cognitive Flexibility
Mental strength includes the ability to revise your thinking.
Cognitive Load
Mental bandwidth is finite.
Working Memory
Your brain can only actively hold a limited amount of information at one time.
Cognitive Overload
Too much thinking can reduce the quality of thinking.
Attentional Residue
Your attention doesn't move instantly.
Metacognition
Awareness creates the opportunity for better thinking.
Cognitive Rigidity
Rigid thinking protects familiarity more than accuracy.
Cognitive Reframing
Perspective influences experience.
Cognitive Momentum
Where thinking begins often influences where thinking goes.
Mental Bandwidth
Capacity changes. Ability usually doesn't.
Cognitive Drift
Attention naturally drifts unless intentionally directed.
Outcome Bias
Good processes sometimes produce poor outcomes. Poor processes sometimes produce good outcomes.
Attentional Control
Attention becomes powerful when it becomes intentional.
Mental Models
Better models create better decisions.
Reflective Thinking
Reflection moves forward. Rumination circles.
Thought Labeling
Naming thoughts weakens automatic reactions.
Mental Clutter
An unorganized mind spends energy carrying what it could organize.
Cognitive Friction
Reduce unnecessary thinking to improve necessary thinking.
Default Thinking
An idle mind is usually an active mind.
Attentional Anchoring
Attention strengthens through returning.
Cognitive Calibration
Wisdom grows through continual recalibration.
Cognitive Noise
Clear thinking begins by reducing interference.
Mental Contrast
Optimism becomes useful when paired with honest assessment.
Cognitive Offloading
External systems protect internal thinking.
Attentional Capture
Attention follows perceived importance before conscious choice.
Prediction Error
Unexpected outcomes drive learning.
Deliberate Attention
Attention becomes powerful when it becomes intentional.
Cognitive Appraisal
Interpretation influences emotion.
Cognitive Reappraisal
Interpretation influences emotion.
Metacognitive Awareness
Awareness of thinking changes thinking.
Cognitive Entrenchment
Experience should expand thinking, not imprison it.
Cognitive Economy
Efficiency sometimes competes with accuracy.
Mental Availability
Capacity changes from moment to moment.
Self-Distancing
Distance often improves judgment.
Systems Thinking
The whole is often different from the sum of its parts.
Feedback Loops
Behavior creates the environment that shapes future behavior.
Clinical Reasoning (10)
Diagnostic Reasoning
Diagnosis improves as evidence accumulates.
Clinical Judgment
Judgment connects evidence with action.
Differential Diagnosis
Think broadly before narrowing.
Evidence-Based Medicine
Evidence guides care.
Clinical Uncertainty
Good clinicians manage uncertainty rather than deny it.
Prognostic Thinking
The future is estimated, not predicted with certainty.
Clinical Decision Threshold
Action begins when evidence reaches an appropriate threshold.
Clinical Bias
Awareness of bias improves judgment.
Clinical Debiasing
Question your first conclusion.
Diagnostic Momentum
Previous conclusions shouldn't replace current thinking.
Decision Science (8)
Choice Architecture
Context shapes decisions.
Opportunity Cost
Choosing always means giving something up.
Expected Value
Probability matters as much as possibility.
Risk Calibration
Accurate risk leads to better decisions.
Utility
Value is personal.
Tradeoff Thinking
Every gain has a cost.
Calibration
Confidence should reflect reality.
Decision Quality
Good processes produce better decisions over time.
Human Operating Principles (4)
Predictive Processing
The brain predicts first and verifies second.
Signal Detection
Good judgment separates signal from noise.
Bayesian Thinking
Evidence changes confidence.
Bounded Rationality
Reasoning always has limits.
Cognitive Performance (2)
Patient Safety (2)
Diagnostic Safety
Safe diagnosis requires follow-through.
Diagnostic Error
Accurate diagnosis depends on sound reasoning and effective communication.