The 12 cognitive biases that prevent you from being
rational
The
human brain is capable of 1016 processes per second, which makes it far more powerful
than any computer currently in existence. But that doesn't mean our brains
don't have major limitations. The lowly calculator can do math thousands of
times better than we can, and our memories are often less than useless — plus,
we're subject to cognitive biases, those annoying glitches in our thinking that
cause us to make questionable decisions and reach erroneous conclusions. Here
are a dozen of the most common and pernicious cognitive biases that you need to
know about.
Some social psychologists believe our cognitive biases help us process information more efficiently, especially in dangerous situations. Still, they lead us to make grave mistakes. We may be prone to such errors in judgment, but at least we can be aware of them. Here are some important ones to keep in mind.
Confirmation Bias
We love to agree with people who agree with us. It's why we only visit websites that express our political opinions, and why we mostly hang around people who hold similar views and tastes. We tend to be put off by individuals, groups, and news sources that make us feel uncomfortable or insecure about our views — what the behavioral psychologist B. F. Skinner called cognitive dissonance. It's this preferential mode of behavior that leads to the confirmation bias — the often unconscious act of referencing only those perspectives that fuel our pre-existing views, while at the same time ignoring or dismissing opinions — no matter how valid — that threaten our world view. And paradoxically, the internet has only made this tendency even worse.
Ingroup Bias
Somewhat similar to the
confirmation bias is the ingroup bias, a manifestation of our innate tribalistic tendencies.
And strangely, much of this effect may have to do with oxytocin — the so-called
"love molecule." This neurotransmitter, while
helping us to forge tighter bonds with people in our ingroup, performs the
exact opposite function for those on the outside — it makes us suspicious,
fearful, and even disdainful of others. Ultimately, the ingroup bias causes
us to overestimate the abilities and value of our immediate group at the
expense of people we don't really know.Gambler's Fallacy
Relatedly, there's also the positive expectation bias — which often fuels gambling addictions. It's the sense that our luck has to eventually change and that good fortune is on the way. It also contribues to the "hot hand" misconception. Similarly, it's the same feeling we get when we start a new relationship that leads us to believe it will be better than the last one.
Post-Purchase Rationalization
Remember that time you bought something totally unnecessary, faulty, or overly expense, and then you rationalized the purchase to such an extent that you convinced yourself it was a great idea all along? Yeah, that's post-purchase rationalization in action — a kind of built-in mechanism that makes us feel better after we make crappy decisions, especially at the cash register. Also known as Buyer's Stockholm Syndrome, it's a way of subconsciously justifying our purchases — especially expensive ones. Social psychologists say it stems from the principle of commitment, our psychological desire to stay consistent and avoid a state of cognitive dissonance.
Neglecting Probability
This is what the social psychologist Cass Sunstein calls probability neglect — our inability to properly grasp a proper sense of peril and risk — which often leads us to overstate the risks of relatively harmless activities, while forcing us to overrate more dangerous ones.
Observational Selection Bias
This is that effect of
suddenly noticing things we didn't notice that much before — but we wrongly assume that the
frequency has increased. A perfect example is what happens after we buy a new
car and we inexplicably start to see the same
car virtually everywhere. A similar effect happens to pregnant
women who suddenly notice a lot of other pregnant women around them. Or it
could be a unique number or song. It's not that these things are appearing more
frequently, it's that we've (for whatever reason) selected the item in our
mind, and in turn, are noticing it more often. Trouble is, most people don't
recognize this as a selectional bias, and actually believe these items or
events are happening with increased frequency — which can be a very
disconcerting feeling. It's also a cognitive bias that contributes to the
feeling that the appearance of certain things or events couldn't possibly be a
coincidence (even though it is).Status-Quo Bias
We humans tend to be apprehensive of change, which often leads us to make choices that guarantee that things remain the same, or change as little as possible. Needless to say, this has ramifications in everything from politics to economics. We like to stick to our routines, political parties, and our favorite meals at restaurants. Part of the perniciousness of this bias is the unwarranted assumption that another choice will be inferior or make things worse. The status-quo bias can be summed with the saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" — an adage that fuels our conservative tendencies. And in fact, some commentators say this is why the U.S. hasn't been able to enact universal health care, despite the fact that most individuals support the idea of reform.
Negativity Bias
Today, we run the risk of dwelling on negativity at the expense of genuinely good news. Steven Pinker, in his book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, argues that crime, violence, war, and other injustices are steadily declining, yet most people would argue that things are getting worse — what is a perfect example of the negativity bias at work.
Bandwagon Effect
Projection Bias
As individuals trapped inside our own minds 24/7, it's often difficult for us to project outside the bounds of our own consciousness and preferences. We tend to assume that most people think just like us — though there may be no justification for it. This cognitive shortcoming often leads to a related effect known as the false consensus bias where we tend to believe that people not only think like us, but that they also agree with us. It's a bias where we overestimate how typical and normal we are, and assume that a consensus exists on matters when there may be none. Moreover, it can also create the effect where the members of a radical or fringe group assume that more people on the outside agree with them than is the case. Or the exaggerated confidence one has when predicting the winner of an election or sports match.
The Current Moment Bias
Anchoring Effect
Also known as the relativity trap, this is the tendency we have to compare and contrast only a limited set of items. It's called the anchoring effect because we tend to fixate on a value or number that in turn gets compared to everything else. The classic example is an item at the store that's on sale; we tend to see (and value) the difference in price, but not the overall price itself. This is why some restaurant menus feature very expensive entrees, while also including more (apparently) reasonably priced ones. It's also why, when given a choice, we tend to pick the middle option — not too expensive, and not too cheap.
Images: Lightspring/Shutterstock, Tsyhun/Shutterstock, Yuri Arcurs/Shutterstock, Everett Collection/Shutterstock, Frank Wasserfuehrer/Shutterstock, George Dvorsky, Barry Gutierrez and Ed Andrieski/AP, Daniel Padavona/Shutterstock, wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock.
From io9 @ http://io9.com/5974468/the-most-common-cognitive-biases-that-prevent-you-from-being-rational
For more information about (your) mind see http://nexusilluminati.blogspot.com/search/label/mind
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Of course Lloyd - but now we'll have to alter the title to read 'The 13 Cognitive Biases...'
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