List of cognitive biases

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_biases

by eru • 18 years ago

36 25 18 years ago

en.wikipedia.org

"Pseudocertainty effect — the tendency to make risk-averse choices if the expected outcome is positive, but make risk-seeking choices to avoid negative outcomes."

May explain why most people stay employed.

antirez• 18 years ago

Base rate fallacy — ignoring available statistical data in favor of particulars.

I really had problems in the past trying to don't say bad words to the incredible amount of people that suffer from this "bias".

Things like "don't eat too much meat, statistically it may hurt your healt". Reply: "My grandmother used to eat tons of meat and dead at 90".

gaika2• 18 years ago

Maybe you should reconsider. Sampling over people around you is a lot more accurate metric than global statistics.

First you have data sample that is relevant to people just like you. That means that you do not have to compensate for other factors as you're affected in the same way.

Second you do not have to trust other people for properly gathering, processing, and presenting the data.

litewulf2• 18 years ago

All well and good, but your sample is usually very small and you as a human being can't handle confounding factors very well. Add on the fact that you are also prone to selection bias...

nazgulnarsil5• 18 years ago

combine with this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_logical_fallacies

for a total picture of the magnitude of stupidity present in modern society. the more intimately familiar you become with reason the more disgusted you will be. don't say i didn't warn you.

scott_s3• 18 years ago

When I read "modern society," the implication I read is that this is different from older society. But in this case, that's certainly not true. We've always been like this.

The more you learn about this, the more you should appreciate that we are not rational creatures. You don't need to get disgusted. Just accept what we are, and try to be rational and not emotional when it matters.

nazgulnarsil5• 18 years ago

yet we are capable of rationality. accepting irrationality to me is accepting things like torture and all other needless suffering. it is not malice that most often leads to evil, but simply ignorance.

alex_c• 18 years ago

My god. Reading through that list, it's amazing when anyone (including myself) ever manages to get anything done, or that society works as well as it does.

Yeah, I guess I'm a glass half full kinda guy.

nazgulnarsil5• 18 years ago

yeah, to be fair it is rather amazing what humanity has accomplished with a brain meant for running from cats on the savanna. but the vast majority of modern comforts is due to a small group of entrepreneurs.

sofal4• 18 years ago

It would be hard I think to name a more irrational group of people than entrepreneurs.

May we be blessed with an abundance of the more altruistic among them.

andreyf2• 18 years ago

This list is precisely how we get things done - by building trusting relationships, ignoring data most likely to be distracting, and focusing on stuff that can hurt us.

OneSeventeen• 18 years ago

And, by contrast, this is why computers are so slow at some decisions: no biases or heuristics, no input prioritization, etc.

andreyf2• 18 years ago

I've always found one missing - being put into an agreeable state of mind with truthisms. For example:

Babies are cute, violence is bad, <something>, and furthermore, kittens are cuddly.

Makes <something> seem more likely to be true. Is there a name for it?

Eliezer• 18 years ago

I call them "applause lights".

http://www.overcomingbias.com/2007/09/applause-lights.html

Special case of the halo effect:

http://www.overcomingbias.com/2007/11/halo-effect.html

yummyfajitas• 18 years ago

A friend of mine calls it "building agreement". He uses it in a rather different context.

Him: I like moby.

Cute girl in record store looking at a Moby CD: Yeah, he's way cool. I saw him in concert recently.

...

Him: I also like puppies, especially when you scratch their tummy, and their leg shakes.

Girl: Oh, I love puppies too! And kitties!

...

Him: So, I gotta run, but it was real nice to meet you. Oh, before I leave, remind me your phone number so we can hang out sometime?

sofal4• 18 years ago

It looks like some people have the idea that biases are inherently bad, and they see this collection of bias patterns as a list of flaws that would not stain the judgment of the ideal human being.

This is not true. Unless your ideal human being is omniscient.

In many cases it makes sense to set up a framework where we try to minimize these things, such as a scientific observation or experiment. We minimize bias as best we can in such cases because we're trying to learn something that exists outside of the realm of human experience, or that at least is universal to all humans. However, the motivations behind all such experiments are hopelessly mired in dubious assumptions, heuristics, and guesses (like hypotheses). I say 'hopelessly' but I would use a more positive term, since bias is ultimately what drives human action.

This is why it is important to recognize when and what biases are appropriate in what contexts. Here's a quote from this very article:

"Cognitive biases are instances of evolved mental behaviour. Some are presumably adaptive, for example, because they lead to more effective actions or enable faster decisions. Others presumably result from a lack of appropriate mental mechanisms, or from the misapplication of a mechanism that is adaptive under different circumstances."

Being free from bias doesn't make you smart, it makes you paralyzed. What makes you smart is your ability to use these adaptive thought processes in a way that enables you to accomplish your ends.

Seen in this way, it is impossible to blame world hunger, etc. on people's cognitive biases. Maybe you can blame it on capable selfish people combined with inappropriate biases among the general population?

DanielBMarkham• 18 years ago

Articles like these are like a cognitive maturity test.

If you understand that biases empower action, and the logical fallacies many times revolve around language, then these categories are nice-to-have illustrations, or patterns (for you geeks) of conversations.

Like all pattern systems, however, their use is more illustrative than practical. And of course, people sit around patting themselves on the back about how they've mastered the system, meanwhile having the same biases and logical flaws as the rest of humanity.

That's not smart, that's blind.

List of cognitive biases

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