Changing Our Mind

Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to change our minds?

The Architecture of Agency: How Evolution Uses Information to Override Physics

What if everything you've ever chosen—your job, your relationships, your values—was never really your choice? Neuroscientists and philosophers increasingly argue that free will is an illusion—your decisions pre-programmed by genetics, childhood, and context. Yet our lived experience insists otherwise. We feel we choose, and society expects us to act accordingly. So which is it? Do we truly have agency—or are we just playing out a script? This article suggests we are asking t

Jeff Hulett

Feb 319 min read

It seems even more challenging to convince someone else to change their mind. This journey explores how we change our minds, especially as it impacts our personal and professional growth. We use a multi-disciplinary approach, considering research from Decision Science, Economics, Psychology, Neuroscience, and Political Science. This journey provides practical business and science contexts. It provides real-life examples of changing our minds and reaching our goals.

You may navigate to the primary journey article next. Below are resources to help you dig into related aspects of the journey. The primary journey article also has many references to other research supporting this journey.

Background and Building An Understanding

1. How braver people, especially our daughters, achieve more career success

2. An investor’s view: Teaching our daughters to be brave

3. Sustainable Diversity in the post-pandemic world

4. Origins of our tribal nature

5. The College Decision - Framework and tools for investing in your future

6. The benefits and risks of college – An employer's and risk manager's perspective

7. They kept asking about what I wanted to do with my life, but what if I don't know? - Part 1

8. Creativity - For Both Introverts and Extroverts

Active Listening and Living In It

9. Our Brain Model

10. Fight Entropy: The practical physics of time

11. The Great Social Equalizers: Data and Decision-Making

12. Information curation in a world drowning in data noise

13. Curiosity Exploration - An evolutionary approach to lifelong learning

Pulling the Trigger

14. The case for range: Why “polymathic” people are so valuable

15. The case for removing Civil War Statues

16. Resolving Lending Bias - a proposal to improve credit decisions with more accurate credit data

17. Negotiating success and building your BATNA

18. Big Rocks

Explore The Journey

The Architecture of Agency: How Evolution Uses Information to Override Physics

What if everything you've ever chosen—your job, your relationships, your values—was never really your choice? Neuroscientists and philosophers increasingly argue that free will is an illusion—your decisions pre-programmed by genetics, childhood, and context. Yet our lived experience insists otherwise. We feel we choose, and society expects us to act accordingly. So which is it? Do we truly have agency—or are we just playing out a script? This article suggests we are asking t

Jeff Hulett

Feb 319 min read

Seeking what not to seek: How to align achievement and happiness

Are you chasing success yet still feeling unfulfilled? The quest for achievement often collides with the elusive pursuit of happiness, leaving many to wonder if the two can truly coexist. As a naturally competitive person, I have felt this tension firsthand. Whether it was on the rugby pitch, climbing the corporate ladder, coaching my children, or striving to be a better entrepreneur and professor, competition has always been my baseline. I know I’m not alone—the drive to com

Jeff Hulett

Jun 18, 202430 min read