While my colleague didn't threaten me physically, he threatened…

While my colleague didn't threaten me physically, he threatened how I saw myself as working hard and getting things done. And when someone threatens how you see yourself, you stop thinking and start reacting.

— from The Heart in the Cockpit (Emotion/Awe/Anxiety/Regret/Empathy) · Clear Thinking: The Art and Science of Making Better Decisions by Shane Parrish

In the book

And here is the thing no one tells you when you are young: when a feeling is strong enough, the old instinctive part of you simply overrides the new, supposedly logical part. The moment anything feels like a threat — especially a threat to how you see yourself — you stop thinking and you start reacting. Anger flares the instant the world fails to match what you expected of it; fear's whole impulse is to run, to hide, to freeze. — The Heart in the Cockpit (Emotion/Awe/Anxiety/Regret/Empathy)

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