The Power of Negative Thinking: With Guests Annie Duke, Mike Richard & Kelvin Wu

<p>Anticipating and planning for obstacles can sometimes be more powerful than adopting a positive mindset.</p><p>A positive attitude is important when embarking on any new endeavor. However, as you may have heard in previous episodes of <i>Choiceology with </i><a href="http://www.katherinemilkman.com/"><i>Katy Milkman</i></a>, overoptimism also can blind you to important information.</p><p>In this episode, we look at a strategy that can help counteract the effects of overoptimism and overconfidence. You could call it the power of <i>negative</i> thinking.</p><p>We begin with the amazing story of a lake in Louisiana that completely disappeared in a matter of hours. An oil drilling accident in 1980 created a giant sinkhole in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Peigneur">Lake Peigneur</a> that rapidly drained massive amounts of water into an active salt mine, swallowing several boats and barges and large chunks of land in the process. The event was catastrophic, but no lives were lost, thanks in part to robust emergency planning.</p><p>You’ll hear first-hand accounts of the dramatic event from Michael Richard, Sr., whose family owns and operates a garden and a nursery on the shores of Lake Peigneur, and from Dr. Kelvin Wu, who describes the scene in the salt mine as the disaster unfolded.</p><p>Dr. Kelvin Wu is a retired mining engineer and former chief of the Mine Waste & Geotechnical Engineering Division at the <a href="https://www.msha.gov/">Mine Safety and Health Administration</a>.</p><p>Michael Richard, Sr., owns and runs <a href="https://ripvanwinklegardens.com/">Rip Van Winkle Gardens</a> and <a href="https://www.liveoakgardens.com/">Live Oak Gardens</a> on Lake Peigneur, Louisiana.</p><p>Emergency planning played an important role in the outcome of this disaster. But planning for the worst needn’t be limited to life and death scenarios.</p><p><a href="https://www.annieduke.com/">Annie Duke</a> joins Katy to argue that negative thinking—imagining failure in order to manage or prevent it— can actual