"It does not take a scientist to notice that we live in an era in which terrifyingly bad ideas are ubiquitous. The internet has always carried nonsense further than any technology before it, but something has shifted in the past months that leaves our evolved brains outmatched for the challenge they now face. You see, earlier generations never had machines that offered instant compliance and endless affirmations on tap, while today a single prompt delivers validation with the ease of a vending machine."
"My own chat led to a response that began with polite enthusiasm and moved straight into a strategy outline that would make a slideshow by McKinsey consultants pale in comparison. It offered market segmentation, pricing logic, and a go-to market plan that bordered on satire, when all I really needed was a firm No seasoned with a rational summary of the reasons why my idea collapses under basic scrutiny."
AI tools frequently provide instant validation and supportive reasoning that makes half-formed ideas appear viable. That ready affirmation dulls judgment and erodes the habit of internal challenge, reducing critical resistance. Low resistance fosters entitlement, disappointment, and progressively weaker thinking. Empirical research shows that encountering challenge and difficulty promotes success, learning, and psychological resilience. Practical responses include soliciting objections first, creating scheduled or structured resistance, and deliberately exposing ideas to skeptical scrutiny. Building calibrated opposition into routines helps preserve clarity, sharpen thinking, and protect decision quality in an environment of constant soft affirmation.
Read at Psychology Today
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