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Social proof describes how people think it is appropriate for them to believe, feel, or do something to the extent that other people are believing, feeling, or doing it too. Social proof provides both the validity that something is good as well as proof of possibility. It also works in reverse for example with the Bystander Effect. The effect of social proof increases with: A higher number of people involved The degree of similarity these people have to you Your level of uncertainty about how to behave in a situation The degree of collectivism in your culture Social proof is a concept from psychology and social science coined originally by Robert Cialdini in his book Influence. Each person has an inherent desire to conform because if he got kicked out of the tribe it would mean almost certain death a few thousand years ago. There’s also a mathematical logic to it. If many people believe something or act in a certain way, it can’t be too bad because they all survived with this behavior. Hence, it’s more likely that the behavior is advantageous than not. ...

Your circle of competence describes an area of knowledge where you have deep knowledge and an accurate understanding of reality. This means you know the rules and principles governing it. You have extensive practical experience in it. You know most of what there is to know, what you don’t know, and even what is knowable and unknowable. Building up your circle of competence takes a great deal of deliberate practice–meaning experience and reflection. ...

Book Cover Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? Why should suicide bombers buy life insurance? Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner answered such questions in their controversial books “Freakonomics” and “Superfreakonomics”. They have a unique way of looking at problems and often find surprising insights and solutions to common problems. In “Think Like a Freak”, they write about the principles and concepts behind their thinking. Thinking like a freak means… ...

Framing is a concept from the social sciences, specifically from psychology and behavioral economics. It describes how we interpret things differently depending on how they’re presented. Even if the different presentation has nothing to do with the matter at hand. Understanding this concept will help you see reality as it is. It can also protect you against manipulation and in turn, will make you more persuasive. The concept is founded on how our brains deal with external stimuli. Associations are the building blocks of thought. We automatically associate the stimulus with our past experiences when we perceive something in the world. This leads to an immediate emotional reaction. This emotion will then influence how we interpret the stimulus in the present. ...

For over two and a half years, I worked as a Product Manager at Greator. I was responsible for further developing our online education platform together with two developers. Greator is the biggest platform for personal development and coaching education in Germany. The company aims to transform people’s lives with various online education products. The central challenge we faced across our products was to create an effective online education that got our participants the results they wanted, while at the same time making them scalable enough to work equally well with 10 and 10’000 participants. ...