#104: It’s Not Too Much Information—It’s Too Little Organization

In this episode, Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera of Cornell University tackle a problem nearly everyone feels but few can name: constant overwhelm in a world flooded with information. From social media and news to work demands and family pressures, it feels like there’s simply too much coming at us all the time.But the real problem isn’t information overload—it’s organization overload. The Cabreras explain why more information doesn’t make us smarter, more informed, or more grounded, and why burnout is often a signal that we’re failing to organize information into meaning. Drawing on decades of research, they show why mental models are built from information and structure, why modern systems teach memorization instead of organization, and how this leaves people vulnerable to manipulation, confirmation bias, and emotional reactivity.They also explore how industries intentionally disguise noise as signal, why phones turn from tools into masters, and how living a life of “tiny experiments” and “tiny peer reviews” can restore clarity in an age of misinformation. From parenting and education to leadership and daily life, this episode offers a powerful reframing: the future belongs to people who can organize information—not just consume it.

Get 20% off any STSI course with code THINKING20 — start building your mental fitness today!In this Think It Through episode, Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera of Cornell University tackle one of the most frustrating human experiences: knowing exactly what you should do—and doing the opposite anyway.Is this a motivation problem, a discipline problem, or something deeper? Using systems thinking and real-world examples like smoking, exercising, speaking up in meetings, and setting boundaries, they reveal the real issue: your behavior is faithfully executing a mental model you haven’t fully seen yet.They explain why mental models can contain contradictory “should” and “should not” rules at the same time, how behavior and language act as road signs to what’s really driving you, and why judging yourself only strengthens the wrong feedback loop. Through practical walkthroughs and a powerful workplace example, they show how to unpack, test, and reorganize mental models so behavior changes naturally—without force or shame.If you’ve ever wondered why willpower isn’t working, this episode will help you see what’s actually going on and give you a clear, humane way forward.

Get 20% off any STSI course with code MOTIVATION20 — start building your mental fitness today!In this episode, Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera of Cornell University unpack a new research paper on mental fitness and challenge nearly everything we think we know about intelligence, burnout, and mental health.Mental fitness, they explain, isn’t a trait, a feeling, or a mindset—it’s a complex adaptive system made up of four interdependent dimensions: cognitive, emotional, motivational, and physical. When any one of these dimensions is neglected, we accumulate hidden “debt” that eventually shuts down our ability to adapt, think clearly, and perform well—even if we’re highly intelligent by traditional measures.They explore why IQ fails to capture what we actually mean by “smart,” how burnout emerges from unbalanced systems rather than personal weakness, and why many modern systems—education, healthcare, therapy—are producing worse outcomes despite good intentions. Along the way, they connect mental fitness to systems thinking, metacognition, emotional intelligence, and real-world adaptability.This episode reframes intelligence as the ability to coordinate the whole person under real constraints—and makes the case that if we want healthier, smarter, more resilient humans, we need to stop optimizing parts and start understanding the system.

Get 20% off any STSI course with code MENTALFITNESS20 — start building your mental fitness today!In this Think It Through episode, Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera of Cornell University explore a struggle many people quietly live with every day: a negative inner voice that puts you down, limits your confidence, and distorts what you believe about yourself.They explain how this voice often isn’t truly “yours,” but something you’ve adopted over time—sometimes from school, authority figures, or traumatic experiences. Drawing on systems thinking, metacognition, and identity–other dynamics, they walk through a practical process of learning to notice the voice, distinguish it from your own, and gradually flip the relationship so it loses its power.Through personal stories, vivid metaphors, and concrete daily practices, this episode shows how small, consistent acts of awareness can weaken the voice that hurts you and strengthen the one that’s actually yours. It’s not about silencing thoughts overnight—it’s about radical incremental change that restores agency, clarity, and self-trust.If you’ve ever wondered why you talk to yourself the way you do—or how to finally stop believing everything that voice says—this episode will help you think it through.

Get 20% off any STSI course with code 20FOR100 — start building your mental fitness today!In this special milestone episode, Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera of Cornell University celebrate the 100th episode of the Cabrera Lab Podcast by doing something big: ranking the top 10 themes that have emerged across the entire show.From simple rules creating complex results to embracing both-and thinking, from culture as shared mental models to seeing webs of causality instead of root causes, they revisit the ideas that show up again and again—because they matter. These aren’t just abstract concepts; they’re practical mental models that shape how we parent, lead, learn, feel, and make decisions.They also unpack the biggest ideas behind the work itself: why thinking is a trainable and measurable skill, why systems thinking is a life skill, not just a work skill, why loving reality beats wishful thinking every time, and why mental models sit beneath everything we do.This episode is part reflection, part greatest-hits tour, and part invitation—an invitation to stop reacting at the surface and start seeing the structure underneath your life. If you’re new to the podcast, this is the perfect place to start. If you’ve been here from the beginning, it’s a powerful reminder of why this work matters.

Get 20% off any STSI course with code REFLECT20 — start building your mental fitness today!In this episode, Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera of Cornell University unpack what reflection actually is—and why most people misunderstand it. Reflection isn’t a feeling, a yearly ritual, or a vague act of looking back. It’s a structural process rooted in how the mind organizes information.Using systems thinking and DSRP, they explain why you don’t learn by doing—you learn by reflecting on experience, and only when that reflection is structured. They show how behaviors, emotions, and decisions are signals of deeper mental models, and why changing outcomes requires changing the way information is organized in your mind.From New Year’s goals and gym habits to parenting, leadership, and personal growth, this episode reveals why waiting until the end of the year to “reflect” robs you of daily feedback—and how small, continuous reflective loops create massive long-term change.If you want to stop repeating the same patterns and start learning for real, this episode will change how you think about reflection forever.

Get 20% off any STSI course with code HOLIDAY20 — start building your mental fitness today!In this holiday edition of Think It Through, Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera of Cornell University tackle one of the most common—and least talked about—seasonal struggles: why fully capable adults suddenly feel like children again the moment they walk into their childhood home.They break down how identity shifts based on who we’re with, why old family dynamics snap back into place, and how tiny reactions can spiral into full-blown holiday stress. Using systems thinking tools like the Identity–Other relationship, the RAR Quad, and the Love Reality Loop, they show how a simple pause can restore agency, change the dynamic, and help you stop reliving the same holiday patterns year after year.The episode also takes aim at the myth of the perfect holiday—why chasing it creates disappointment, how unrealistic mental models steal presence, and why loving reality doesn’t mean liking everything, but choosing curiosity over control.If the holidays tend to leave you drained, frustrated, or wondering “why does this keep happening?”, this episode will help you see what’s really going on—and give you practical tools to think it through, stay grounded, and actually enjoy what’s real.

Get 20% off any STSI course with code SYSTEMS20 — start building your mental fitness today!In this episode, Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera of Cornell University tackle a deceptively simple question they were asked at a social event: “What can you do that other people can’t do if you’re a systems thinker?”Their answer is grounded in research, not hype. They break down the stunning cognitive law showing that most people rely on only 20% of the mental structures reality is made of, leaving 75% of the world unseen, unprocessed, and un-understood. Using the science of DSRP, the Love-Reality Loop, Pareto patterns, and validated cognitive data, they explain how systems thinkers literally see more of reality, organize information more accurately, and make better decisions with less overwhelm.They also discuss why nature doesn’t care about your mental blind spots, how to train the Six Moves to increase problem-solving performance by up to 550%, and why the alignment between your mental models and reality is the true definition of oneness.This episode goes deep, but stays practical — showing exactly what you gain when you learn to think systemically in a world that urgently needs more systems thinkers.

Get 20% off any STSI course with code THINKITTHROUGH20 — start building your mental fitness today!In this Think It Through episode, Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera of Cornell University break down a problem facing kids, college students, and professionals alike: what do you do when you do exceptional work—but the system only rewards strict compliance?Using a real classroom story, workplace examples, and a surprisingly accurate metaphor involving “shit sliders,” they unpack how tiny acts of compliance—made over and over again—build up delayed psychological costs that shape your identity, agency, and long-term trajectory.They explore why humans struggle with delay, how micro-choices create macro-outcomes, and why awareness—not rebellion—is the key to navigating bureaucratic systems without becoming a compliant, dimmed-down version of yourself.If you’ve ever wondered when to play by the rules and when to push the envelope, this episode gives you the mental model to think it through—and choose wisely.

Get 25% off any STSI course with code THANKS25 - Happy Thanksgiving!In this Think It Through episode, Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera of Cornell University tackle a listener’s real-life parenting dilemma: a 10-year-old boy terrified of monsters lurking in his house. What begins as a bedtime fear unfolds into a profound lesson on mental models, evidence, and how we teach kids to tell what’s real from what’s imagined.Through the lens of systems thinking, the Cabreras show how fears—childhood or adult—emerge from the mental models we create about the world, and how those beliefs drive our emotions and behaviors. They share practical tools parents can use to help kids test their thinking against reality, build evidence-based confidence, and ultimately develop the lifelong skill of thinking clearly under fear.What starts as a monster problem becomes a masterclass in how to raise resilient, reality-loving thinkers in an age of misinformation and AI.