
We can regain flexibility over such automatic, rigid behavior by restricting the external stimuli (putting our phones away), which is a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)-based technique called “stimulus control.” We can also naturally expose ourselves to the internal stimuli (negative emotions), without engaging in the conditioned response (grabbing for our phone), which is another CBT-based technique called “exposure and response prevention”. So the practice is to non-judgementally notice when impulses arise, and not engage in the conditioned response behavior, repeatedly returning to whatever you are doing on instead. Over time, this weakens the classical conditioning in a process called ‘habituation’, which ultimately restores our behavioral flexibility.
… more visible one’s skills. To use the language of complexity theory, expertise is scale dependent. And, ironically, the more complex the world becomes, the more the role of macro-deciders “empty suits” with disproportionate impact should be reduced: we should decentralize (so actions are taken locally and visibly), not centralize as we have been doing.
…ibya — look like actors playing the part, down to their vocabulary and the multiplicative meetings. Talk is cheap and people who talk and don’t do are easily detectable by the public because they are too good at talking.