Spiritual Bookshelf Episode 52: ❤️Final : How to Build Financial Wisdom – Part 19

Today, we’ll focus on a few more tendencies:

10. Influence-from-Mere-Association Tendency

One big tendency is being influenced just by simple associations. This idea is similar to the conditioned reflex studied by Skinner. For example, if someone buys a brand of shoe polish and it makes their shoes look amazing, the reward reinforces the behavior—they’ll likely buy the same brand again.

But there’s another type of association: people sometimes make choices just because of what they subconsciously link together. For instance, many people assume that the most expensive product in a category must be the best quality. Some companies know this, so they raise prices or design fancy packaging to make customers think they’re buying the best. This works for everyday products, industrial tools, and especially luxury goods, because high prices signal taste and status.

The dangerous part is that associations can also mislead us in everyday life. Past success, or personal likes and dislikes, can create illusions. Napoleon and Hitler, riding the wave of past victories, disastrously invaded Russia. In modern life, a gambler might win once at a casino and believe it’s a pattern, only to lose heavily later. Or someone invests with a mediocre friend who got lucky once—they may try it again and fail badly.

How to avoid these traps?

              1.Examine past successes carefully and identify random factors, so you don’t overestimate new plans.

              2.Identify new risks that didn’t exist in prior successes.

11. Simple, Pain-Avoiding Psychological Denial

Next, we have the tendency to deny painful reality. I first saw this during WWII. A family friend lost her gifted son in a plane crash over the Atlantic. Though her mind was clear, she refused to accept his death. Painful truths can be unbearable, and people will twist facts until they feel manageable.

Denial also appears in addiction, love, or facing death. People may insist: “I don’t need hope to persist.” Such courage is admirable.

With drugs or alcohol, denial can be dangerous. Addicts often overestimate their situation or potential, ignoring the downward spiral. Modern treatment combines several psychological strategies to fight addiction, achieving about a 50% success rate—but the process is grueling, and failure is real. Prevention is far better than trying to fix a problem later.

12. Excessive Self-Regard Tendency

Finally, let’s talk about excessive self-regard. Most people overestimate themselves. For instance, 90% of Swedish drivers believe they’re above average. People also overvalue personal items, children, or decisions once they own them—this is called the endowment effect. After making a choice, we often think it’s better than before we decided.

This tendency leads people to favor others who are similar to themselves. Experiments show that if someone finds a lost wallet and the owner shares similar traits, they’re more likely to return it. This explains why groups of like-minded people can become very influential—or even dangerous. Bad habits, corruption, or incompetence can get worse over time if unchecked.

Tolstoy highlighted this in his writing: many wrongdoers don’t see themselves as truly bad—they justify actions with pressures or misfortune. This “Tolstoy Effect” shows how people rationalize errors rather than change.

That’s it for today’s episode! I hope you found some valuable insights. Try to notice these tendencies in your life, and maybe even practice managing them consciously.

Start paying more attention to your decision-making, learning, and personal growth, so you can live a richer, happier life. Take care, and see you next time