Empowering Your Health Journey with Solomon's Paradox

Imagine yourself feeling lost in a health maze, overwhelmed by questions and anxieties, but able to resolve your friends miseries with your advice!

This dilemma stems from our individual biases and limitations. King Solomon, renowned for his wisdom, ironically often gave better counsel to others than himself. Psychologists call this "Solomon's Paradox" - the curious human tendency to offer more objective advice to friends than to oneself.

What if, within your healthcare app, resided a wise and personalized advisor, ready to guide you with tailored insights and unwavering support?

OR

Imagine a scenario where you could effortlessly untangle your own dilemmas by simply advising a virtual friend in a similar situation. This mental exercise creates a cognitive distance, enabling a more objective evaluation of the problem at hand.

This situation is not eons ahead; it's the exciting potential of making use of Solomon's Paradox applied to digital health!

??The Biases Within

First, what causes Solomon's Paradox? When considering our own problems, we lack distance. Our emotions, assumptions, and blindspots cloud our judgement. For example, fear around a health symptom may prompt hasty decisions or denial.

In contrast, when advising others, we step back and analyze the situation more objectively. We aren't hindered by internal biases.

?? Your Personalized Coach:

Imagine an app that transforms into a personal coach, understanding your unique needs and goals. Your data is analyzed, offering tailored insights like a trusted friend. You gain clarity and confidence to make informed decisions.

By reflecting on your health through an app "avatar," you gain a fresh perspective.?? Your "inner guru" helps you overcome biases and limitations, making informed decisions like you would for someone else.

But how do we bridge the gap between our innate biases and the clarity we possess when advising others? ??

Exploration of Techniques to Access Your Inner Wisdom and to apply it in Apps:

1. Befriend Yourself: Imagine a friend with similar struggles. What advice would you give them? By mentally stepping into their shoes, you create distance and see things objectively, unlocking hidden patterns and solutions.

• Guided prompts: During symptom entries or health assessments, offer prompts like "Imagine a friend experiencing this. What advice would you give them?" This encourages users to step outside their own perspective.
• Virtual friend avatars: Introduce personalized avatars that mirror the user's age, gender, and interests. These avatars can offer "friendly advice" based on the entered data, prompting the user to consider alternative viewpoints.
• "What if?" scenarios: Present hypothetical situations related to the user's health concern and ask them how they would advise a friend in such a situation. This can trigger self-reflection and reveal hidden biases.

2. Talk to Yourself (in the Third Person): Instead of asking "Why am I doing this?" ask "Why is she/he doing that?" This shift offers a fresh perspective on your situation, like having a neutral observer helping you see clearly.

• Journaling prompts: Encourage users to write down their concerns and then rephrase them in the third person, as if observing someone else. This shift in perspective can offer fresh insights.
• Internal dialogue visualization: Allow users to choose an avatar representing their inner voice and visualize a conversation where they ask the avatar questions and analyze its responses.
• Third-person reflection prompts: After making a health decision, ask users to reflect on the process using prompts like "What factors did 'he/she' consider before making this choice?"

3. Avatar Advantage: While AI can't replace human connection, personalized avatars can leverage the paradox. By analyzing your data and preferences, they offer insights tailored to you, adding a personalized touch to self-reflection.

• Personalized "inner coach" avatar: Develop AI-powered avatars that analyze user data and offer tailored advice and support based on Solomon's Paradox principles. This avatar can guide users through self-reflection exercises and help them identify and overcome biases.
• Interactive decision-making tools: Design tools where users can input their options and have the avatar analyze them, highlighting potential biases and offering alternative perspectives based on data-driven insights.
• Gamified challenges: Create challenges where users practice giving advice to virtual characters facing health-related decisions. By seeing the impact of their advice, users can learn to apply similar objectivity to their own choices.

?? But Before We Get Carried Away...

Privacy, ethical considerations, and accessibility are crucial concerns. Responsible development and user awareness are key.

Ready to Explore?

* How to use “Solomon’s paradox” to give yourself good life advice

* Solomon’s Paradox: The Reason Why You Stay In Toxic Relationships

Remember, you are your own health hero! These apps can be valuable companions, but your inner wisdom is irreplaceable. ?