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When someone knowledgeable admits uncertainty, it surprises people, and they end up paying more attention to the substance of the argument.

With so much emphasis placed on imparting knowledge and building confidence, many teachers don’t do enough to encourage students to question themselves and one another.

We should be persuaded by the substance of an argument, not the shiny package in which it’s wrapped.

Lectures are not always the best method of learning, and they are not enough to develop students into lifelong learners.

Achieving excellence in school often requires mastering old ways of thinking. Building an influential career demands new ways of thinking.

When we see people get punished for failures and mistakes, we become worried about proving our competence and protecting our careers.

It takes confident humility to admit that we’re a work in progress. It shows that we care more about improving ourselves than proving ourselves.

The goal in a learning culture is to welcome these kinds of experiments, to make rethinking so familiar that it becomes routine.

We can’t run experiments in the past; we can only imagine the counterfactual in the present.

Escalation of commitment happens because we’re rationalizing creatures, constantly searching for self-justifications for our prior beliefs as a way to soothe our egos, shield our images, and validate our past decisions.