If what we imagine goes unchallenged

If what we imagine goes unchallenged. It can harden into a belief something that we think is true, and will always be true. And once we have a particular belief, it influences what we notice in the future. The things we notice when the future reinforces the belief.

— from The Mind in the Cockpit

In the book

The old idea that willpower or ability is simply an inborn trait you either have or don't is, the research now shows, plainly false; the brain itself is plastic, and behavior is far more malleable than we were ever taught. But beliefs are tricky instruments, because you cannot simply will one into existence — you cannot decide to believe something the way you decide to raise your hand — and worse, anything you merely imagine often enough, left unchallenged, quietly hardens into a belief you mistake for fact. So the discipline is to treat your important beliefs the way a scientist treats a hypothesis: verify them, try hard to falsify them, and ask honestly — am I actually sure this is true, and how would I know if it weren't? — The Mind in the Cockpit

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