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Can possibility be trained?

Perceived possibility — what a person believes is available to them — may be trainable independent of circumstance. The Lab is investigating what that training actually looks like.

Working Hypothesis

Working hypothesis: repeated, structured exposure to disconfirming evidence (people who did the 'impossible' thing) measurably widens a person's perceived option set, distinct from motivation or confidence.

What We Know

  • Exposure to counter-stereotypical or counter-expectation models has been shown to shift perceived possibility in adjacent domains.
  • Perceived possibility is not the same variable as optimism or self-esteem.

What We Do Not Yet Know

  • How long a widened sense of possibility persists without reinforcement.
  • Whether it generalizes across domains or stays narrow to the modeled example.
Opened 2026-02-18Updated 2026-07-01