science

Loserthink

Loserthink is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Loserthink rather than just read about it. In short: Loserthink: How Untrained Brains Are Ruining America is a 2019 non-fiction book by Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip. Adams suggests that many otherwise intelligent people are trapped by unproductive ways of thinking which he terms as loserthink.

Key takeaways

Loserthink belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Loserthink to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Loserthink from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Loserthink: How Untrained Brains Are Ruining America is a 2019 non-fiction book by Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip. Adams suggests that many otherwise intelligent people are trapped by unproductive ways of thinking which he terms as loserthink. The reason for this, he says, is they do not have experience across multiple domains and thus are not equipped to think more productively. Loserthink introduces readers to the most useful thought patterns in a variety of disciplines. Adams wants to help employees identify mental barriers and how to break through them, as well as escape from their own "mental prisons". Adams suggested two ideas for a calmer Internet, namely the "48-hour rule", where everyone should be given a grace period of a couple of days to retract any controversial statement they have made, and the "20-year rule", where everyone should be automatically forgiven for any mistakes they made more than two decades ago, with the exception of certain serious crimes.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Loserthink

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Loserthink claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Loserthink before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Loserthink ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Loserthink

In research: Loserthink appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Loserthink in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Loserthink is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2019 non-fiction books, Books by Scott Adams, Personal development, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Loserthink outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Loserthink in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Loserthink means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Loserthink out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Loserthink in simple terms?

Why does Loserthink matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Loserthink?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Loserthink.