TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Trevor Maber: Rethinking thinking

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Imagine a microscopic-sized ladder contained in the part of our brain that we'll label our suscuinobcos. The Ladder of irenfcnee, which was first popeosrd by Harvard professor Chris Argyris, is the bsais of this model. Every time we interact with someone, that experience enters the ladder at the btootm. That same experience zips up the ladder in the blink of an eye, enitxig at the top. This process happens thousands of times a day without us knowing it. Let's focus on what happens on each rung of the ladder. On the first rung, we have the raw data and observations of our experience. This is very similar to what someone watching a video recording of our experience would see. Moving up to the second rung, we filter in seiifpcc information and dliates from our experience. We unknowingly filter besad on our preferences, tienedecns, and many other aspects that we believe are important. On to the third rung. We assign meaning to the information we have frtelied through. This is where we start to interpret what our information is telling us. On our fourth rung, a very crucial thing happens. We develop assumptions based on the meaning we created on the previous rung, and we start to blur the distinction between what is fact and what is sroty. On the fifth rung, we develop conclusions based on our aostnmisups. This is also where our emotional reactions are created. On the sxtih rung, we adjust our bileefs about the world around us, including the person or people involved in our experience of the moment. On the seventh and fnial rung, we take action based on our adjusted beliefs. Still with me? Great! Let's take a real-life example and run it up the ladder to see how this all works. Have you ever been cut off in a parking lot, signal light on as you steer toward your ceeotvd spot, only to slam on your brakes at the last minute as someone pulls in front of you and steals your spot away? Imagine that experience and notice all of the data and observations landing on the first rung of your lddear. Now let's wtach what we pay attention to on the second rung. Who cares that it's sunny out and the birds are chirping? The 50% off sign outside of your favorite store is meaningless. You fieltr in the sensation of your grip tightening on the wheel, you feel your blood pressure rise, you hear the squeal of your brakes, and you notice the expression on the face of the other driver as he pulls in front of you and quickly looks away. Time for our third rung. Ever since you were young, your parents taught you the importance of waiting in line and taking your turn. You live and die by the rule of first come, first served. And now this guy has just selotn your spot. What gives? Up to the fourth rung we go. Watch closely as our assumptions take over and our story creates itself. "That stupid jerk, didn't his praents teach him anything? How could he not see my signal lgiht? He must never pay attention! Why does he think he's more important than anyone else?" Jumping quickly to the fifth rung, we clncodue that this guy is heartless, inconsiderate, he needs to be taught a lesson and put in his place. We feel angry, frustrated, vindictive, justified. On our sixth rung, we adjust our beliefs based on the eicenexrpe. "That's the last time I give in! Next time someone tries to cut me off, tires will be skimong on the pneaemvt as I squeal past them into my spot." And finally our last rung: we take acotin. We back up, pull up behind his car, honk our horn, and roll down our window to sarcem a few choice wrdos as well. Now imgaine, he walks over qulicky, apologizing. His wife, who's almost due with their first baby, called him from inside the mall to say she is in labor and needs to get to the htposail immediately. We're momentarily shocked, apologize profusely, and wish him luck as he rushes toward the entrance. What just hanepepd here? What changed? Why is this so significant? In our parking lot example, our beliefs were short-circuited by the ladder of the other individual. "My wife is in labor, I need to get there quick, there's a parking spot. Whew! Oh, jeez, I cut someone off. I'd better apologize quickly so they don't think I'm a jerk." But what if we were able to short-circuit our ladders ourselves? pcivrtelaoy, by ccoihe? Guess what? We can! Let's return to our unique hmaun fituocnn of free will. Next time you notice yourself reacting to your experience, pay focused aotnttein to your ladder. Ask yourself what beliefs are at play, where do they come from? What data and oeviortnsbas did you filter in as a result of your beliefs, and why? Are your assumptions valid and supported by facts? Would a different set of assumptions create different feelings, and result in new and better conclusions and actions? We all have our own unique ladder. Be mindful of yours, and help others to see theirs.

Open Cloze

Imagine a microscopic-sized ladder contained in the part of our brain that we'll label our ____________. The Ladder of _________, which was first ________ by Harvard professor Chris Argyris, is the _____ of this model. Every time we interact with someone, that experience enters the ladder at the ______. That same experience zips up the ladder in the blink of an eye, _______ at the top. This process happens thousands of times a day without us knowing it. Let's focus on what happens on each rung of the ladder. On the first rung, we have the raw data and observations of our experience. This is very similar to what someone watching a video recording of our experience would see. Moving up to the second rung, we filter in ________ information and _______ from our experience. We unknowingly filter _____ on our preferences, __________, and many other aspects that we believe are important. On to the third rung. We assign meaning to the information we have ________ through. This is where we start to interpret what our information is telling us. On our fourth rung, a very crucial thing happens. We develop assumptions based on the meaning we created on the previous rung, and we start to blur the distinction between what is fact and what is _____. On the fifth rung, we develop conclusions based on our ___________. This is also where our emotional reactions are created. On the _____ rung, we adjust our _______ about the world around us, including the person or people involved in our experience of the moment. On the seventh and _____ rung, we take action based on our adjusted beliefs. Still with me? Great! Let's take a real-life example and run it up the ladder to see how this all works. Have you ever been cut off in a parking lot, signal light on as you steer toward your _______ spot, only to slam on your brakes at the last minute as someone pulls in front of you and steals your spot away? Imagine that experience and notice all of the data and observations landing on the first rung of your ______. Now let's _____ what we pay attention to on the second rung. Who cares that it's sunny out and the birds are chirping? The 50% off sign outside of your favorite store is meaningless. You ______ in the sensation of your grip tightening on the wheel, you feel your blood pressure rise, you hear the squeal of your brakes, and you notice the expression on the face of the other driver as he pulls in front of you and quickly looks away. Time for our third rung. Ever since you were young, your parents taught you the importance of waiting in line and taking your turn. You live and die by the rule of first come, first served. And now this guy has just ______ your spot. What gives? Up to the fourth rung we go. Watch closely as our assumptions take over and our story creates itself. "That stupid jerk, didn't his _______ teach him anything? How could he not see my signal _____? He must never pay attention! Why does he think he's more important than anyone else?" Jumping quickly to the fifth rung, we ________ that this guy is heartless, inconsiderate, he needs to be taught a lesson and put in his place. We feel angry, frustrated, vindictive, justified. On our sixth rung, we adjust our beliefs based on the __________. "That's the last time I give in! Next time someone tries to cut me off, tires will be _______ on the ________ as I squeal past them into my spot." And finally our last rung: we take ______. We back up, pull up behind his car, honk our horn, and roll down our window to ______ a few choice _____ as well. Now _______, he walks over _______, apologizing. His wife, who's almost due with their first baby, called him from inside the mall to say she is in labor and needs to get to the ________ immediately. We're momentarily shocked, apologize profusely, and wish him luck as he rushes toward the entrance. What just ________ here? What changed? Why is this so significant? In our parking lot example, our beliefs were short-circuited by the ladder of the other individual. "My wife is in labor, I need to get there quick, there's a parking spot. Whew! Oh, jeez, I cut someone off. I'd better apologize quickly so they don't think I'm a jerk." But what if we were able to short-circuit our ladders ourselves? ___________, by ______? Guess what? We can! Let's return to our unique _____ ________ of free will. Next time you notice yourself reacting to your experience, pay focused _________ to your ladder. Ask yourself what beliefs are at play, where do they come from? What data and ____________ did you filter in as a result of your beliefs, and why? Are your assumptions valid and supported by facts? Would a different set of assumptions create different feelings, and result in new and better conclusions and actions? We all have our own unique ladder. Be mindful of yours, and help others to see theirs.

Solution

observations
filter
coveted
exiting
hospital
basis
details
experience
bottom
parents
final
sixth
conclude
choice
pavement
scream
happened
action
filtered
smoking
function
words
subconscious
human
assumptions
ladder
light
stolen
watch
quickly
inference
proactively
story
specific
beliefs
based
proposed
attention
imagine
tendencies

Original Text

Imagine a microscopic-sized ladder contained in the part of our brain that we'll label our subconscious. The Ladder of Inference, which was first proposed by Harvard professor Chris Argyris, is the basis of this model. Every time we interact with someone, that experience enters the ladder at the bottom. That same experience zips up the ladder in the blink of an eye, exiting at the top. This process happens thousands of times a day without us knowing it. Let's focus on what happens on each rung of the ladder. On the first rung, we have the raw data and observations of our experience. This is very similar to what someone watching a video recording of our experience would see. Moving up to the second rung, we filter in specific information and details from our experience. We unknowingly filter based on our preferences, tendencies, and many other aspects that we believe are important. On to the third rung. We assign meaning to the information we have filtered through. This is where we start to interpret what our information is telling us. On our fourth rung, a very crucial thing happens. We develop assumptions based on the meaning we created on the previous rung, and we start to blur the distinction between what is fact and what is story. On the fifth rung, we develop conclusions based on our assumptions. This is also where our emotional reactions are created. On the sixth rung, we adjust our beliefs about the world around us, including the person or people involved in our experience of the moment. On the seventh and final rung, we take action based on our adjusted beliefs. Still with me? Great! Let's take a real-life example and run it up the ladder to see how this all works. Have you ever been cut off in a parking lot, signal light on as you steer toward your coveted spot, only to slam on your brakes at the last minute as someone pulls in front of you and steals your spot away? Imagine that experience and notice all of the data and observations landing on the first rung of your ladder. Now let's watch what we pay attention to on the second rung. Who cares that it's sunny out and the birds are chirping? The 50% off sign outside of your favorite store is meaningless. You filter in the sensation of your grip tightening on the wheel, you feel your blood pressure rise, you hear the squeal of your brakes, and you notice the expression on the face of the other driver as he pulls in front of you and quickly looks away. Time for our third rung. Ever since you were young, your parents taught you the importance of waiting in line and taking your turn. You live and die by the rule of first come, first served. And now this guy has just stolen your spot. What gives? Up to the fourth rung we go. Watch closely as our assumptions take over and our story creates itself. "That stupid jerk, didn't his parents teach him anything? How could he not see my signal light? He must never pay attention! Why does he think he's more important than anyone else?" Jumping quickly to the fifth rung, we conclude that this guy is heartless, inconsiderate, he needs to be taught a lesson and put in his place. We feel angry, frustrated, vindictive, justified. On our sixth rung, we adjust our beliefs based on the experience. "That's the last time I give in! Next time someone tries to cut me off, tires will be smoking on the pavement as I squeal past them into my spot." And finally our last rung: we take action. We back up, pull up behind his car, honk our horn, and roll down our window to scream a few choice words as well. Now imagine, he walks over quickly, apologizing. His wife, who's almost due with their first baby, called him from inside the mall to say she is in labor and needs to get to the hospital immediately. We're momentarily shocked, apologize profusely, and wish him luck as he rushes toward the entrance. What just happened here? What changed? Why is this so significant? In our parking lot example, our beliefs were short-circuited by the ladder of the other individual. "My wife is in labor, I need to get there quick, there's a parking spot. Whew! Oh, jeez, I cut someone off. I'd better apologize quickly so they don't think I'm a jerk." But what if we were able to short-circuit our ladders ourselves? Proactively, by choice? Guess what? We can! Let's return to our unique human function of free will. Next time you notice yourself reacting to your experience, pay focused attention to your ladder. Ask yourself what beliefs are at play, where do they come from? What data and observations did you filter in as a result of your beliefs, and why? Are your assumptions valid and supported by facts? Would a different set of assumptions create different feelings, and result in new and better conclusions and actions? We all have our own unique ladder. Be mindful of yours, and help others to see theirs.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

Important Words

action
actions
adjust
adjusted
angry
apologize
apologizing
argyris
aspects
assign
assumptions
attention
baby
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basis
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blood
blur
bottom
brain
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called
car
cares
changed
chirping
choice
chris
closely
conclude
conclusions
contained
coveted
create
created
creates
crucial
cut
data
day
details
develop
die
distinction
driver
due
emotional
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exiting
experience
expression
eye
face
fact
facts
favorite
feel
feelings
filter
filtered
final
finally
focus
focused
fourth
free
front
frustrated
function
give
grip
guess
guy
happened
harvard
hear
heartless
honk
horn
hospital
human
imagine
immediately
importance
important
including
inconsiderate
individual
inference
information
interact
interpret
involved
jeez
jerk
jumping
justified
knowing
label
labor
ladder
ladders
landing
lesson
light
line
live
lot
luck
mall
meaning
meaningless
mindful
minute
model
moment
momentarily
moving
notice
observations
parents
parking
part
pavement
pay
people
person
place
play
preferences
pressure
previous
proactively
process
professor
profusely
proposed
pull
pulls
put
quick
quickly
raw
reacting
reactions
recording
result
return
rise
roll
rule
run
rung
rushes
scream
sensation
served
set
seventh
shocked
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signal
significant
similar
sixth
slam
smoking
specific
spot
squeal
start
steals
steer
stolen
store
story
stupid
subconscious
sunny
supported
taught
teach
telling
tendencies
thousands
tightening
time
times
tires
top
turn
unique
unknowingly
valid
video
vindictive
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walks
watch
watching
wheel
wife
window
words
works
world
young
zips