Rules of Thinking, The

RULE 4

Beware self-interest

Never mind other people’s motives for a moment – what about your own? What do you stand to gain from thinking as you do? It’s easy to think in a way that feeds your own self-interest without ever being aware that you’re doing it. It’s possible that your way of thinking will lead you to a decision that will make you better off financially, or give you higher status, or enable you to live in a better area. This is something that I notice often affects politicians, who are very good at thinking in a way that is likely to get them re-elected. Most of them find it quite hard to reach conclusions that won’t sit comfortably with the voters.

We’ve all met vegetarians who stopped eating meat because of their ethical views, ...