Take a long look at that image.
A single curled strip of metal, cleanly milled, shaped by force, precision, repetition. It looks flawless. Balanced. Predictable. That’s the problem.
That spiral is your thinking.
Not your wild thoughts. Not your creative impulses. No – it’s your controlled, repeated, well-trained cognitive routine. It feels smart. It feels safe. But it’s a forged loop. A loop that narrows the more you trust it.
You admire its shape – but you never question how you got here.
And by the time you do, you’ve already spiraled too deep.
The Trap: Certainty Bias
Certainty bias is your brain’s addiction to being right – and staying right.
It’s the illusion that once you’ve figured something out, you’ve earned the right to stop questioning it. It’s the seductive lie that your current understanding is enough. That your conclusions are final. That your logic has sealed the case.
You reward yourself for repetition.
You think “consistency” is a virtue.
You call it experience. Expertise. Strategy.
But it’s just a spiral. Manufactured by your refusal to unlearn.
Certainty bias doesn’t look dangerous. It looks successful.
It wears a suit. It gets promoted. It wins arguments.
And it slowly kills your ability to rethink.
What It Costs You
In Your Personal Life:
- You stay in a relationship long past its expiration date because you “know” it can work.
- You give the same advice over and over – even when it no longer fits the people you love.
- You make assumptions about others’ intentions, lock them in, and judge accordingly.
Your mind becomes a courtroom.
But you’re always the judge, jury, and executioner.
No new evidence allowed. Case closed.
In Your Work Life:
- You reject fresh ideas because they “lack precedent.”
- You hire familiar profiles and call it “cultural fit.”
- You stay loyal to systems that served you once – and silently sabotage innovation.
You frame this as being “focused.”
But in reality, you’ve just replaced thinking with scripting.
Your spiral is becoming a cage.
The Way Out: R2A – Reflect, Analyze, Advance
Let’s cut through the metal. Here’s how.
Reflect:
Where in your life do you feel absolutely certain – and when was the last time you challenged that certainty?
Don’t look for doubts. Look for blind spots.
Certainty is sneaky. It hides in your language:
“I just know.”
“This has always worked.”
“They’re just like that.”
Start there. Name your dogmas.
Analyze:
What patterns have you built around being right?
- Do you shut down discussions too early?
- Do you only consume information that agrees with you?
- Do you feel personally attacked when someone questions your assumptions?
That’s not intellect. That’s ego with a shield.
And it’s wasting your cognitive potential.
Look at how the spiral formed: one cut, over and over.
That’s how your thinking has been shaped. Not by reality – but by habit, reward, and unchecked self-trust.
Advance:
Here’s your practical drill to break the spiral:
- Daily Uncertainty Ritual: Ask yourself one uncomfortable question every day that has no easy answer. Sit with it. Don’t solve it. Just hold it.
- Argument Reversal: Take one belief you hold strongly and argue against it. Out loud. Make it hurt. Make it real.
- Invite Conflict: Surround yourself with people who challenge your assumptions. Make it a rule: if everyone agrees with you, something’s wrong.
- Create Cognitive Breakpoints: In every major decision, build in a pause where you deliberately look for opposing evidence. No shortcuts.
Rethinking isn’t an act of weakness. It’s your only defense against becoming obsolete.
You’re Not Thinking. You’re Repeating.
That spiral on the steel edge didn’t make itself.
It was drilled, cut, rotated – until it obeyed.
That’s what your thinking has become. Sharp. Predictable. Decorative.
But it’s time to rebel against your own mental machinery.
Time to stop polishing the spiral – and start breaking it.
Because every unchallenged thought becomes a liability.
And every certainty you worship is a potential lie you refuse to question.
R2049 