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The article written by James Clear talks about why facts dont change our minds. Some people refuse to alter their beliefs even when presented with factual informations ! Individuals may priotize maintaining connections over accepting facts as changing one beliefs can risk severing social ties.

Feedback : I found James Clear’s article really interesting because it explains something I see all the time, people sticking to their opinions even when they’re wrong. It made me realize that just giving someone facts isn’t enough to change their mind, especially if it means going against their friends or beliefs. I liked how the article was easy to read and gave useful advice, like focusing on building trust instead of arguing. It definitely made me think differently about how I approach debates or discussions, both in and outside of class.

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The economist J.K. Galbraith once wrote, "Faced with a choice between changing one's mind and proving there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy with the proof."

Leo Tolstoy was even bolder: "The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him."

What's going on here? Why don't facts change our minds? And why would someone continue to believe a false or inaccurate idea anyway? How do such behaviors serve us?

The Logic of False Beliefs

Humans need a reasonably accurate view of the world in order to survive. If your model of reality is wildly different from the actual world, then you struggle to take effective actions each day. 1

However, truth and accuracy are not the only things that matter to the human mind. Humans also seem to have a deep desire to belong.

In Atomic Habits, I wrote, "Humans are herd animals. We want to fit in, to bond with others, and to earn the respect and approval of our peers. Such inclinations are essential to our survival. For most of our evolutionary history, our ancestors lived in tribes. Becoming separated from the tribe-or worse, being cast out-was a death sentence."

Understanding the truth of a situation is important, but so is remaining part of a tribe. While these two desires often work well together, they occasionally come into conflict.

In many circumstances, social connection is actually more helpful to your daily life than understanding the truth of a particular fact or idea. The Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker put it this way, "People are embraced or condemned according to their beliefs, so one function of the mind may be to hold beliefs that bring the belief-holder the greatest number of allies, protectors, or disciples, rather than beliefs that are most likely to be true." 2

We don't always believe things because they are correct. Sometimes we believe things because they make us look good to the people we care about.

I thought Kevin Simler put it well when he wrote, "If a brain anticipates that it will be rewarded for adopting a particular belief, it's perfectly happy to do so, and doesn't much care where the reward comes from - whether it's pragmatic (better outcomes resulting from better decisions), social (better treatment from one's peers), or some mix of the two." 3

False beliefs can be useful in a social sense even if they are not useful in a factual sense. For lack of a better phrase, we might call this approach "factually false, but socially accurate." 4 When we have to choose between the two, people often select friends and family over facts.

This insight not only explains why we might hold our tongue at a dinner party or look the other way when our parents say something offensive, but also reveals a better way to change the minds of others.

Facts Don't Change Our Minds. Friendship Does.

Convincing someone to change their mind is really the process of convincing them to change their tribe. If they abandon their beliefs, they run the risk of losing social ties. You can't expect someone to change their mind if you take away their community too. You have to give them somewhere to go. Nobody wants their worldview torn apart if loneliness is the outcome.

The way to change people's minds is to become friends with them, to integrate them into your tribe, to bring them into your circle. Now, they can change their beliefs without the risk of being abandoned socially.

The British philosopher Alain de Botton suggests that we simply share meals with those who disagree with us:

"Sitting down at a table with a group of strangers has the incomparable and odd benefit of making it a little more difficult to hate them with impunity. Prejudice and ethnic strife feed off abstraction. However, the proximity required by a meal - something about handing dishes around, unfurling napkins at the same moment, even asking a stranger to pass the salt - disrupts our ability to cling to the belief that the outsiders who wear unusual clothes and speak in distinctive accents deserve to be sent home or assaulted. For all the large-scale political solutions which have been proposed to salve ethnic conflict, there are few more effective ways to promote tolerance between suspicious neighbours than to force them to eat supper together." 5

Perhaps it is not difference, but distance that breeds tribalism and hostility. As proximity increases, so does understanding. I am reminded of Abraham Lincoln's quote, "I don't like that man. I must get to know him better."

Facts don't change our minds. Friendship does.

The Spectrum of Beliefs

Years ago, Ben Casnocha mentioned an idea to me that I haven't been able to shake: The people who are most likely to change our minds are the ones we agree with on 98 percent of topics.

If someone you know, like, and trust believes a radical idea, you are more likely to give it merit, weight, or consideration. You already agree with them in most areas of life. Maybe you should change your mind on this one too. But if someone wildly different than you proposes the same radical idea, well, it's easy to dismiss them as a crackpot.

One way to visualize this distinction is by mapping beliefs on a spectrum. If you divide this spectrum into 10 units and you find yourself at Position 7, then there is little sense in trying to convince someone at Position 1. The gap is too wide. When you're at Position 7, your time is better spent connecting with people who are at Positions 6 and 8, gradually pulling them in your direction.

The most heated arguments often occur between people on opposite ends of the spectrum, but the most frequent learning occurs from people who are nearby. The closer you are to someone, the more likely it becomes that the one or two beliefs you don't share will bleed over into your own mind and shape your thinking. The further away an idea is from your current position, the more likely you are to reject it outright.

When it comes to changing people's minds, it is very difficult to jump from one side to another. You can't jump down the spectrum. You have to slide down it.

Any idea that is sufficiently different from your current worldview will feel threatening. And the best place to ponder a threatening idea is in a non-threatening environment. As a result, books are often a better vehicle for transforming beliefs than conversations or debates.

In conversation, people have to carefully consider their status and appearance. They want to save face and avoid looking stupid. When confronted with an uncomfortable set of facts, the tendency is often to double down on their current position rather than publicly admit to being wrong.

Books resolve this tension. With a book, the conversation takes place inside someone's head and without the risk of being judged by others. It's easier to be open-minded when you aren't feeling defensive.

Arguments are like a full frontal attack on a person's identity. Reading a book is like slipping the seed of an idea into a person's brain and letting it grow on their own terms. There's enough wrestling going on in someone's head when they are overcoming a pre-existing belief. They don't need to wrestle with you too.

Why False Ideas Persist

There is another reason bad ideas continue to live on, which is that people continue to talk about them.

Silence is death for any idea. An idea that is never spoken or written down dies with the person who conceived it. Ideas can only be remembered when they are repeated. They can only be believed when they are repeated.

I have already pointed out that people repeat ideas to signal they are part of the same social group. But here's a crucial point most people miss:

People also repeat bad ideas when they complain about them. Before you can criticize an idea, you have to reference that idea. You end up repeating the ideas you're hoping people will forget-but, of course, people can't forget them because you keep talking about them. The more you repeat a bad idea, the more likely people are to believe it. 6

Let's call this phenomenon Clear's Law of Recurrence: The number of people who believe an idea is directly proportional to the number of times it has been repeated during the last year-even if the idea is false. 7

Each time you attack a bad idea, you are feeding the very monster you are trying to destroy. As one Twitter employee wrote, "Every time you retweet or quote tweet someone you're angry with, it helps them. It disseminates their BS. Hell for the ideas you deplore is silence. Have the discipline to give it to them." 8

Your time is better spent championing good ideas than tearing down bad ones. Don't waste time explaining why bad ideas are bad. You are simply fanning the flame of ignorance and stupidity.

The best thing that can happen to a bad idea is that it is forgotten. The best thing that can happen to a good idea is that it is shared. It makes me think of Tyler Cowen's quote, "Spend as little time as possible talking about how other people are wrong."

Feed the good ideas and let bad ideas die of starvation.

The Intellectual Soldier

I know what you might be thinking. "James, are you serious right now? I'm just supposed to let these idiots get away with this?"

Let me be clear. I'm not saying it's never useful to point out an error or criticize a bad idea. But you have to ask yourself, "What is the goal?"

Why do you want to criticize bad ideas in the first place? Presumably, you want to criticize bad ideas because you think the world would be better off if fewer people believed them. In other words, you think the world would improve if people changed their minds on a few important topics.

If the goal is to actually change minds, then I don't believe criticizing the other side is the best approach.

Most people argue to win, not to learn. As Julia Galef so aptly puts it: people often act like soldiers rather than scouts. Soldiers are on the intellectual attack, looking to defeat the people who differ from them. Victory is the operative emotion. Scouts, meanwhile, are like intellectual explorers, slowly trying to map the terrain with others. Curiosity is the driving force. 9

If you want people to adopt your beliefs, you need to act more like a scout and less like a soldier. At the center of this approach is a question Tiago Forte poses beautifully, "Are you willing to not win in order to keep the conversation going?"

Be Kind First, Be Right Later

The brilliant Japanese writer Haruki Murakami once wrote, "Always remember that to argue, and win, is to break down the reality of the person you are arguing against. It is painful to lose your reality, so be kind, even if you are right." 10

When we are in the moment, we can easily forget that the goal is to connect with the other side, collaborate with them, befriend them, and integrate them into our tribe. We are so caught up in winning that we forget about connecting. It's easy to spend your energy labeling people rather than working with them.

The word "kind" originated from the word "kin." When you are kind to someone it means you are treating them like family. This, I think, is a good method for actually changing someone's mind. Develop a friendship. Share a meal. Gift a book.

Be kind first, be right later. 11

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Why don't facts change our minds? This article explains the logic of false beliefs and proposes a better system for constructive conversation.

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India and Pakistan’s scorching heatwaves are the new normal

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India and Pakistan’s scorching heatwaves are the new normal

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India and Pakistan are dealing with super intense heatwaves lately, way earlier than usual. In April 2025, cities like Delhi hit over 40°C, and parts of Pakistan even reached a brutal 50°C. Experts say this isn’t just a one time thing, it’s becoming the new normal because of climate change caused by human activities. These extreme temperatures are really tough on people, making it harder to get clean water, increasing the risk of health problems, and pushing energy systems to the limit

Feedback : This article really shows how climate change are already affecting millions of people in really serious ways. It’s a wake up call that climate change is here, and we need to act fast, especially in places where people are most at risk

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The summer conditions south Asian countries dread each year have arrived alarmingly early, and it's only April. Much of India and Pakistan is already sweltering in heatwave conditions, in what scientists say is fast becoming the "new normal".

Temperatures in the region typically climb through May, peaking in June before the monsoon brings relief. But this year, the heat has come early. "As far as Asia and the Indian subcontinent are concerned, there was a quick transition from a short window of spring conditions to summer-like heat," said GP Sharma, the meteorology president of Skymet, India's leading private forecaster.

South Asia, home to 1.9 billion people, is particularly vulnerable. Many live in areas highly exposed to extreme heat and lack access to basic cooling, healthcare or water.

In Delhi, where spring usually offers a short spell of mild temperatures, thermometers have risen past 40C in April - "up to 5C above the seasonal average" - according to a report by ClimaMeter, a platform that tracks extreme weather events.

"Human-driven climate change" is to blame for the "dangerous" kind of heat seen in recent weeks, it said.

"These spring heatwaves are not anomalies. They're signals. We need to move beyond awareness into action," said Gianmarco Mengaldo, a climate expert at the National University of Singapore and co-author of the report.

Delhi authorities urged schools to cancel afternoon assemblies on Tuesday and issued emergency guidelines to ensure water breaks and stocks of oral rehydration salts in first aid kits, and to treat any signs of heat stress immediately.

Delhi commuters on their way to work on an unusually hot April day. Photograph: Harish Tyagi/EPA

Temperatures in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, hit 44C, triggering heatstroke reports among construction workers and farmers. Other states are also grappling with intense heat.

The Indian Meteorological Department has reported an "above-normal number of heatwave days". Temperatures are expected to climb steadily across the subcontinent, with the highest readings forecast for Wednesday and Thursday.

Pakistan is also reeling. In the city of Shaheed Benazirabad in Sindh province, the mercury has soared to 50C - nearly 8.5C above the April average. In other parts of the country, temperatures have hovered in the high 40s.

"What was once considered rare has become alarmingly common, as climate change accelerates the frequency and severity of such events," said an editorial in the Pakistani newspaper Dawn. The country "remains woefully unprepared for the escalating climate crisis", it said.

Urban heat is making things worse. Data comparing 1950-1986 with 1987-2023 shows that cities such as Delhi and Islamabad are now up to 3C hotter on average than nearby rural areas.

Children cool off in water from a leaking pipeline in Hyderabad, Pakistan. Photograph: Akram Shahid/AFP/Getty Images

"When it comes to heatwaves, the question is no longer if they are linked to climate change, but what kind of thresholds we are reaching," said Mengaldo. "Preparedness is essential. But right now, our infrastructure is not well adapted."

Natural climate variability such as the El Niño cycle can affect regional weather, but it is now in a neutral phase.

ClimaMeter said: "Compared to pre-1986 levels, similar meteorological conditions now produce temperatures up to 4C higher - almost entirely due to human-driven climate change."

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South Asia is not alone. "In the northern hemisphere spring months, we are already seeing conditions in parts of the Middle East that are incompatible with human life," said Mengaldo.

"This is very serious for the populations ... we also expect summer temperatures in Spain and France to reach unprecedented levels in the next few years," he said. "Many of the events predicted for 2050 or 2070 are already happening. We underestimated the speed of change. What we're seeing now is an acceleration - a failure of our predictive models."

David Faranda, a senior climate scientist with the French National Centre for Scientific Research and co-author of the report, said: "The only sustainable solution is to stop burning fossil fuels and reduce emissions. Without drastically reducing emissions and building climate resilience through better insulation, use of green energy, and other moves, the implications are alarming."

"Even if we act now, the climate system will take decades - sometimes over a century - to cool down," Mengaldo added. "The sea level rise is already locked in for hundreds of years."

Both researchers stressed economic inequality and infrastructure played a critical role in determining who survives extreme heat. "There are different temperature thresholds - actual temperature, [humidity index] and others," said Mengaldo. "Economic levels play a huge role in how people can cope and sustain themselves."

Delhi has updated its heat action plan, focusing on vulnerable groups such as elderly people, construction workers, and street vendors. But implementation is inconsistent.

Faranda said adaptation was increasingly unaffordable for many heat-prone countries, with electricity grids buckling and causing widespread power cuts. "When multiple events occur, there's often no escape," he said.

Mengaldo highlighted the need for innovation: "We need better-insulated housing, materials that prevent energy loss, and architectural designs that promote natural cooling. These can significantly reduce energy demand during extreme heat."

Faranda also said people must change their lifestyles. "Energy demand keeps increasing. If we want to survive the coming decades, we must not only build more renewables but also reduce energy consumption overall: through lifestyle changes, efficient architecture, and better materials."

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India and Pakistan already sweltering in 'new normal' heatwave conditions

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Temperatures south Asians dread each year arrive early as experts talk of ever shorter transition to summer-like heat

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Deepfake Scams: When AI Imitates Voices to Trick Banks

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Deepfake Scams: When AI Imitates Voices to Trick Banks

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Scammers are now using AI to create fake voices that sound just like real people. With just a short clip from social media, they can mimic someone’s voice to fool banks into transferring money. One journalist even tested this by creating a fake version of her own voice to interact with her bank. These deepfake scams are becoming more common, and banks are struggling to keep up. Experts warn that as AI tools become more accessible, these types of frauds could increase

Feedback : It’s both fascinating and a bit scary how advanced AI has become. While the technology is impressive, it also shows the importance of being cautious with personal information online

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The clever new scam your bank can’t stop

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Your savings could be hacked by scammers using easily available AI technology — and your bank won’t stop them.

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Introduction

Who was Elisa Lam?

Elisa Lam was a 21-year-old Canadian student from Vancouver, studying at the University of British Columbia. She traveled alone to California in early 2013 and checked into the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles.

Why is her case famous?

Her death attracted worldwide attention because of eerie elevator surveillance footage and the mysterious circumstances of her disappearance and discovery.

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The Day She Vanished

On January 31, 2013, Elisa was last seen at the hotel. She had been calling her parents daily, but suddenly stopped. Her parents, worried, reported her missing. The police searched the hotel, but couldn’t find her.

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Security footage showed Elisa acting strangely in the hotel elevator:

• Pressing all the buttons

• Peeking out nervously

• Gesturing wildly

• Seeming like she was hiding

🎥 The video went viral. People around the world began speculating — was she scared? Was someone following her? Was it something supernatural?

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On February 19, 2013, after hotel guests complained about low water pressure and weird-tasting tap water (😳), a hotel worker found Elisa’s body inside a rooftop water tank, dead.

🚪 There was no clear way she could have accessed the tank, the rooftop was locked and alarmed

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Accident or Something More?

The autopsy ruled her death as an accidental drowning. Elisa had bipolar disorder, and her behavior in the elevator was possibly due to a manic episode.

Still, many questions remained:

• How did she get to the rooftop?

• Why was she naked in the tank?

• Was someone else involved?

🕵️‍♀️ Some still believe there’s more to the story.

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What Do People Believe?

Some popular theories:

• She was murdered and it was covered up.

• She was hallucinating and climbed into the tank herself.

• Something paranormal happened at the hotel (many deaths occurred there before).

🎞️ In 2021, Netflix released a documentary called “Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel”.

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Why It Affects So Many

The Elisa Lam case became famous not just because of what happened, but because of the mystery around it. The eerie footage, the hotel’s dark past, and the unanswered questions all made it unforgettable. It reminds us that even in a connected world, some stories remain unsolved.

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I think Elisa’s story is tragic. Whether it was a mental health crisis, an accident, or something more, it’s a reminder of how important it is to take mental health seriously. It also shows how easily people can jump to conspiracy theories when things don’t make sense.