Paranoia is when you think the universe is conspiring against you. The opposite, pronoia, is when you think the universe is conspiring for you.
A paradox is when two assumptions lead to a self-contradictory conclusion.
I’ve been working on the idea that two contradictory thoughts can lead to something greater but I’ve been having trouble formulating how it works or even what to call it. But when I read Why Gregory Bateson Matters, the idea of the double bind was exactly the opposite of contradictory thoughts that cause growth.
The double bind represents a situation in which a person is required to do two things simultaneously, but these things are in conflict with each other. In the words of the well-known proverb, you are damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.
-Ted Gioia
Borrowing from the similarity to a paradox and the paranoia/pronoia relationship, I present “prodox” - when two contradictions lead to growth.
Some examples: two finance tropes, first “Let your winners run” vs “You never lose money taking a profit.” I always thought that this demonstrated that financial advice was trite but if you follow both simultaneously you’re forced to examine the facts more closely.
Explore vs exploit: The tension between the two facilitates your curiosity.
Learning vs trying: I’ve found that the most effective way to learn is by alternating book learning with real life experience. The experience gives context and allows you to explore the nuances and the book learning can lead you to new areas. It’s the same as alternating first principles with experimenting.
Conservative vs liberal: status quo vs change. Change is the only way to grow but unchecked change can lead to chaos. Likewise, the status quo may be effective now, but the world is constantly changing so stasis will eventually lead to failure.
Evolution: an animal’s environment changes over time. Evolution is the survival of the fittest - the most adaptable survive. But changing too much will also decrease survivability.
The common thread is tension. Tension between two poles creates stress and dynamism. Edge cases get discovered and explored.
The kind of unique insights I crave on Unknown Unknowns! I saw a tweet introducing pronoia and it was a concept I loved. But it's delightful how you start from that contrast and bring us to Prodox. In an age of 280 character tweets and 30 second tiktoks, details matters, context matters and mental models for us to quickly discern possibly subtle differences become valuable.