17 Ways Our Mind Plays Tricks On Us🧠

We prefer things to stay the same; change is mostly considered a negative thing. And often change is uncomfortable

Ex: "Ankur continues to be friends with toxic people because they are childhood friends."

We assume that the stories of those who survived are the entire story. Because the "dead" are not there to share any story and hence we don't really know of them...

Ex: "So many unicorns are being made every day. Entrepreneurship must be really awesome."

We remember incomplete tasks more than completed tasks. It also applies to our successes and failures.

Ex: "Ankur continues to feel guilty that he hasn't finished those 2 tasks, ignoring that he has finished 10 others."

We tend to place a higher value on things that we have worked on ourselves.

Ex: "Isn't the cake awesome? I made it."

We tend to overestimate the probability of bad outcomes. Because by default our brain leans toward negative probability.

Ex: "I am sure I won't find a cab in time for the interview."

We draw different conclusions from the same information, basis how the information is presented. And that makes all the difference.

Ex: "Only 5% of Indians invest in the stock market. There must be something wrong with it.

Only 5% of Indians invest in the stock market. Imagine the potential."

We tend to think that the past was better than the future will be.

Ex: "In our times, we had a lot more patience."

We invest more in things that have cost us something, even if we face negative outcomes. The sunk cost fallacy occurs because we are not purely rational decision-makers and are often influenced by our emotions.

Ex: "Ankur is still holding on to that stock investment with a -80% return. In fact, he is investing more."

We think future possibilities are affected by past events, even though they are independent.

Ex: "Ankur is tossing the coin and heads have come up 9 times. Now it will tail for sure."

We tend to forget things that we can easily search for.

Ex: "What was that movie name? God, I just read about it yesterday!"

Once we know something, we think that everyone else also knows it.

Ex: "I shouldn't share this content. It's so basic. Everyone knows this."

Our failures are sensational, but our success is our hard work.

Ex: "I passed that exam because I worked hard. I failed that interview because I got late."

We judge others on their personality or behavior, but we judge ourselves on the situation.

Ex: "Ankur is poor. He must be lazy. I am poor because I did not get the right opportunities."

We tend to agree more with folks in our group, than outside of our group.

Ex: "Ankur is from Delhi, so I like him more than someone from Mumbai. Because I am from Delhi."

We don't think we have biases. But we see it in others.

Ex: "I am not biased."