Winning the Brain Game: Fixing the 7 Fatal Flaws of Thinking

CHAPTER 5

Downgrading

One should not pursue goals that are easily achieved. One must develop an instinct for what one can just barely achieve through one’s greatest efforts.

—ALBERT EINSTEIN

Scene: 10:30 a.m., Parramatta Westfield, Sydney, Australia, April 27, 1983. As the 10 professional ultramarathon runners lined up for the first ever 875-kilometer (542.5-mile) Westfield Ultramarathon from Sydney to Melbourne, an eleventh man approached the starting line, looking clearly out of place. He appeared to be much older than the other men, twice the age of some, and his threadbare attire was nowhere near as fancy as the fine Nike and Adidas running gear the others were sporting. His varicose veins embarrassed him, so instead of runners’ shorts, ...