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6 Biases Holding You Back From Rational Thinking
Conviction Bias
I believe in this idea so strongly. It must be true.
We hold on to an idea that is secretly pleasing to us, but deep inside we might have some doubts as to its truth and so we go an extra mile to convince ourselves — to believe in it with great vehemence, and to loudly contradict anyone who challenges us.
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Key Ideas
The pleasure principle in thinking
The most common emotion and the source of all our biases is the desire for pleasure and the avoidance of pain. We imagine we are looking for the truth, or being realistic, when in fact we are holding on to ideas that bring a release from tension and soothe our egos, make us feel superior.
Confirmation Bias
Is our tendency to cherry-pick information that confirms our existing beliefs or ideas.
To hold an idea and convince ourselves we arrived at it rationally, we go in search of evidence to support our view. And we manage to find that evidence that confirms what we want to believe.
Conviction Bias
I believe in this idea so strongly. It must be true.
We hold on to an idea that is secretly pleasing to us, but deep inside we might have some doubts as to its truth and so we go an extra mile to convince ourselves — to believe in it with great vehemence, and to loudly contradict anyone who challenges us.
Appearance Bias
- people have trained themselves in social situations to present the front that is appropriate and that will be judged positively.
- we fall for the halo effect : when we see certain negative or positive qualities in a person, other positive or negative qualities are implied that fit with this.
The Group Bias
We experience tremendous relief to find others who think the same way as we do.
We are social animals by nature. The feeling of isolation, of difference from the group, is depressing and terrifying. But are unaware of this pull of the group and so we imagine we have come to certain ideas completely on our own.
The Blame Bias
Our natural response to failure is to blame others, circumstances, or a momentary lapse of judgment.
It's often too painful to look at our mistakes. It pokes at our ego. We go through the motions, pretending to reflect on what we did. But with the passage of time, the pleasure principle rises and we forget what small part in the mistake we ascribed to ourselves.
Superiority Bias
It’s when we cannot seem to see our faults and irrationalities, only those of others.
For instance, we’ll easily believe that those in the other political party do not come to their opinions based on rational principles, but those on our side have done so.
This allows us to justify whatever we do, no matter the results.
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
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Key Ideas
Decision-making errors
Most decision-making errors boil down to:
- logical fallacies (over-generalizations, comparing apples and oranges, circular thinking)
- limiting beliefs (underes...
Confirmation Bias
If you already have an opinion about something before you've even tried to figure it out, chances are you'll over-value information that confirms that opinion.
Think about what kinds of information you would expect to find to support alternative outcomes.
Attribution Bias
The “fundamental attribution error,” is when we excuse our own mistakes but blame other people for theirs.
Give other people the chance to explain themselves before judging their behavior.
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Key Ideas
Confirmation bias
People don't like to rethink their beliefs once they are formed.
We would rather ignore information that would challenge our ideas than engage with threatening new information. This is ...
Availability heuristic
Our brain likes to take shortcuts to solve a problem when normal methods are too slow to find a solution.
The problem with this approach is that frightening events are easier to recall than every-day events. We should be aware that alarmist news broadcasts don't help in an accurate sense of events.
Anchoring
We have a tendency to stubbornly hold on to a number once we hear it and gauge all other numbers based on the initial number, even if the information is not that relevant.
For example, if customers are limited to 'four per customer' they are more likely to buy four, even if they did not initially intend to do so.
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Key Ideas
The Way We See The World
Each of us looks at things differently, and it's largely based on our thinking patterns, education levels, inherent bias, self-identity, and real, first-hand experiences.
Higher Mind Vs Primitive Mind
Human beings tend to have two kinds of conflicting mindsets:
- The Higher Mind, the conscious truth-seeking mind, has made human beings an advanced civilization.
- The Primitive Mind is our hardwired, thousands-of-years-old survivalist part, the one that's still stuck in the dark ages.
The Psych Spectrum
Our Higher Mind and the Primitive Mind always have a tug-of-war like conflict. The degree of the conflict can be placed in a spectrum, which is called a Psych Spectrum.
If the Higher mind is in control, we are placed higher in the Psych Spectrum and have the Primitive Mind under check. If we are placed at a lower degree in the Psych Spectrum, then the Primitive Mind is under control.
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