Mental Models 102 - The Decision Strikes Back | George Mack

70 to 80 years ago, we would've been in a world war. Li- could you imagine telling someone in the trenches, "Oh, I'm addicted to Insta- shut the..." You know what I mean? Part of me is like, we go back to extreme ownership and personal responsibility, log off.

So-

Sign out.

I get it.

Delete the app. You end up at a random uni, and then the people who happen to be placed near you in halls-

(laughs)

... it's literally Susan on a Excel spreadsheet who randomly decides this.

Yeah (laughs) .

And it's mad to think the amount of Susans or Dereks that have decided people's best friends forever (snaps fingers) .

Next one, availability bias.

I was chatting to, uh, one of the (laughs) guys from work, and there's some digestive biscuits in the kitchen. And none of us like digestive biscuits, but we're eating digestive biscuits every single day, 'cause they just are there in the-

Yeah.

... in the jar. And yet, whatever's available to you, you've got to almost instill willpower to avoid it.

Mm-hmm.

Which means that given enough time, given enough lack of sleep, given enough XYZ, you're probably gonna give in at some point.

Mm-hmm.

So yeah, design the environment is key.

The internet goes wild for George McGill back on Modern Wisdom. It's been a long time, man. Thank you so much for coming back on.

It's good to, it's good to be back. You brought me out my cave. It's good.

I have indeed.

Yeah.

A lot has changed since we were last here.

Yeah, a lot, a lot has changed from, f- for, uh, both parties, I imagine.

Yeah.

Always changing.

You're down in London now. You were in Manchester last time we saw each other.

Yeah, down in London, uh, bit more expensive, but-

(laughs)

... you get what you pay for.

Yeah, you do, a lot of opportunities.

Yeah, it's, um, it's certainly very, very different. There's a, a really good Paul Graham essay, uh, called Cities and Ambition.

Uh-huh?

Have you ever heard of it?

No.

It's one of, one of my favorite ones of his, one of the reasons why I moved, and he says that every city sort of whispers something to you, um, whether it's the sort of conversations that you overhear or, um, the people that you're around or the cars that drive past or the buildings that you see. You're constantly getting whispered to, and you, you don't, you don't consciously notice it, but you pick up on it. And, um, 'cause I've found that e- Paul, Paul, Paul Graham says that in, like, New York, it's the, the constant whispering is, "Make more money."

Mm-hmm.

Um, and that's 'cause ev- ev- every conversation you overhear is like, "How much money you make, you know, I made this, this month." Uh, whereas in LA it's, "Be more famous," is what it's constantly whispering to you.