We can't live in a state of perpetual doubt, so we make up the best story possible and we live as if the story were true.
Interpretation
We create narratives to give our lives meaning and direction in the face of uncertainty.
This quote reflects on the human tendency to construct narratives or beliefs to navigate through life's uncertainties. Daniel Kahneman suggests that living in continuous doubt is untenable, prompting us to create the most favorable story we can imagine and commit to it, as if it were an undeniable truth. This is an essential aspect of how we find purpose and operate in our daily lives, shaping our perceptions and decisions.
In practice
In a speech about overcoming challenges, you might say, 'As Daniel Kahneman wisely noted, we can't live in a state of perpetual doubt; we must craft our own narratives.'
We think, each of us, that we're much more rational than we are. And we think that we make our decisions because we have good reasons to make them. Even when it's the other way around. We believe in the reasons, because we've already made the decision.
The average investor's return is significantly lower than market indices due primarily to market timing.
Banks are run by executives, and executives protect themselves, and that does not always mean that banks are going to behave rationally.
Laziness is built deep into our nature.
Through some combination of culture and biology, our minds are intuitively receptive to religion.
You are more likely to learn something by finding surprises in your own behavior than by hearing surprising facts about people in general.
God doesnβt need to punish us. He just grants us a long enough life to punish ourselves.
Looking back at the worst times, it always seems that they were times in which there were people who believed with absolute faith and absolute dogmatism in something. And they were so serious in this matter that they insisted that the rest of the world agree with them. And then they would do things that were directly inconsistent with their own beliefs in order to maintain that what they said was true.
Have you ever confused a dream with life? Or stolen something when you have the cash? Have you ever been blue? Or thought your train moving while sitting still? Maybe I was just crazy. Maybe it was the 60's. Or maybe I was just a girl... interrupted.
Living is merely the chaos of existence.
(On entering Carmel) I came to save souls and especially to pray for priests.
There comes a moment when we all must realize that life is short, and in the end the only thing that really counts is not how others see us, but how God sees us.
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