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About this quote

What does it mean?
Many think they are thinking, but they are just reshuffling their prejudices.
In plain terms
Some people only rearrange biases instead of genuine thinking.
What can you take from it?
Question your assumptions rather than just rehash them.

Where it applies

  • political debates
  • media consumption
  • personal decision‑making

Putting it to work

  • seek contradictory evidence
  • engage diverse perspectives

Questions to consider

  • How often do you examine the basis of your beliefs?
  • What steps help you move beyond bias?

Another view

Some restructuring of ideas can still be valuable if it leads to deeper insight.

More from William James

  1. A difference which makes no difference is no difference at all.

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  2. The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.

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  3. 'I saw a moving sight the other morning before breakfast in a little hotel where I slept in the dusty fields.The young man of the house shot a little wolf call…

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