The Way We Delude Ourselves

This is one of the most common and dangerous ones, and is related to our beliefs. It leads us to ‘confirm’ what we already know, believe or suspect when any new piece of data comes in the light. If there is an alternate or conflicting piece of evidence, we tend to sideline, ignor...

• Fundamental Attribution Error is a bias in which we put too much weight on the external attributes of the individual while accessing their behaviour, paying less attention to the external factors that can be easily measured.
• Endowment Effect is whe...

It's our tendency to place importance on the first figure that we hear or see and tends to greatly affect our decisions, estimates or predictions.

Negotiators use this tactic and start with an extremely high or low number, anchoring the subsequent deal in their favour.

It makes us certain without a doubt that if the flipped coin lands a heads up five times consecutively, it will land as tails up the sixth time. The real odds still stand at 50-50 for each flip.

It's a tendency to heavily weigh the moment which is closer to the present, as compared to something in the near or distant future.

Example: If you are offered a choice of $150 right now or $180 after 30 days, you would be more inclined to choose the money you are offe...

Sunk-cost thinking makes us stick with a bad decision due the investments already made.