Mental bugs due to lack of imagination - Nathan Hurst

Nathan Hurst

SubscribeSign in

Mental bugs due to lack of imagination<br>Alternative worlds are hard to picture

Nathan Hurst<br>May 15, 2026

Share

Each shows up when you treat the visible set as the option set because alternative worlds are hard to picture.<br>Sunk cost fallacy: it’s easier to remember what we already spent than to imagine what we could do next.

Loss aversion: losses feel concrete, and the gains may never even come to mind.

Fixed-pie/zero-sum thinking: it’s easy to see the pie but hard to imagine how it could grow.

Envy: it’s easier to want what someone else has than to want what you haven’t seen.

Lump of labor fallacy: it’s easy to see jobs disappearing but hard to imagine new jobs that get created.

Whether-or-not decisions: “Should we build X?” hides the better question “What’s most important to build?”

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Subscribe

Share

Discussion about this post<br>CommentsRestacks

TopLatest

No posts

Ready for more?

Subscribe

© 2026 Nathan Hurst · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice<br>Start your SubstackGet the app<br>Substack is the home for great culture

This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts