5 cognitive biases that kill your resolve

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Cognitive biases are thought traps, biases that prevent us from thinking rationally. But a decision made irrationally, automatically, is rarely the best. Therefore, today we will talk about how to avoid common errors in perception.

The only thing that prevents us from reaching the limit of our capabilities is our own thoughts. We are our own worst enemies.

Usually, the process of personal growth is figuratively presented as a leisurely climb up the stairs, step by step. In fact, it consists of jumps and is more like jumping between floors on a trampoline. In my life, such leaps occur due to changes in the very way of thinking: I look back and evaluate the whole picture as a whole, change my attitude towards something. By the way, such moments do not happen often, they are scattered over time.

To cope with the flood of information and external stimuli that befall our brains, we unconsciously begin to think stereotyped and use heuristic, intuitive methods for solving problems.

Writer Ash Read has likened the heuristic to a bike path for the mind, which allows it to work without maneuvering between cars and without risk of getting hit. Unfortunately, most of the decisions we think we make deliberately are actually made unconsciously.

The big problem is that we think in accordance with heuristic patterns when faced with important choices. Although in this situation, on the contrary, deep thought is required.

The most harmful heuristic patterns are cognitive biases that prevent us from seeing the path to change. They change our perception of reality and push us to climb the stairs for a long time when we need a springboard. Here's a list of five cognitive biases that kill your resolve. Overcoming them is the first step towards change.

1. Confirmation bias

Only in an ideal world are all our thoughts rational, logical and unbiased. In reality, most of us believe what we want to believe.

You might call it stubbornness, but psychologists have another term for this phenomenon - confirmation bias. It is the tendency to seek and interpret information in a way that confirms an idea that is close to you.

Let's give an example. In the 1960s, Dr. Peter Wason conducted an experiment in which subjects were shown three numbers and asked to guess a rule known to the experimenter to explain the sequence. These were the numbers 2, 4, 6, so the subjects often suggested the rule "each next number increases by two." To confirm the rule, they offered their own sequences of numbers, for example 6, 8, 10 or 31, 33, 35. Is everything correct?

Not really. Only one in five test subjects guessed about the real rule: three numbers in increasing order of their values. Typically, Wason's students came up with a false idea (add two each time), and then only searched in that direction to get evidence to support their assumption.

Despite its apparent simplicity, Wason's experiment says a lot about human nature: we tend to seek only information that confirms our beliefs, and not the one that refutes them.

Confirmation bias is inherent in everyone, including doctors, politicians, creative people and entrepreneurs, even when the cost of error is particularly high. Instead of asking ourselves what we are doing and why (this is the most important question), we often get biased and rely too heavily on initial judgment.

2. Anchor effect

The first solution is not always the best, but our minds cling to the initial information that literally takes hold of us.

The anchor effect, or anchoring effect, is the tendency to greatly overestimate the first impression (anchor information) when making a decision. This is clearly manifested when evaluating numerical values: the estimate is inclined towards the initial approximation. Simply put, we always think in relation to something, not objectively.

Research shows that the anchor effect can explain anything, from why you don't get the pay raise you want (if you ask for more in the first place, the final figure will be high, and vice versa) to why you believe in stereotypes about people you see for the first time in your life.

Revealing research by psychologists Mussweiler and Strack, who demonstrated that the anchoring effect works even with initially implausible numbers. The participants in their experiment, divided into two groups, were asked to answer the question of how old Mahatma Gandhi was when he died. And at the beginning, as anchors, we asked each group an additional question. The first: "Did he die before the age of nine or after?" As a result, the first group suggested that Gandhi died at 50, and the second at 67 (in fact, he died at the age of 87).

The anchor question with the number 9 forced the first group to name a significantly lower number than the second group, which was based on a deliberately high number.

It is extremely important to understand the meaning of the initial information (whether it is plausible or not) before making a final decision. After all, the first information that we learn about something will affect how we will relate to it in the future.

3. The effect of joining the majority

The choice of the majority directly affects our thinking, even if it contradicts our personal beliefs. This effect is known as herd instinct. You've probably heard sayings like “They don’t go to a strange monastery with their own charter” or “In Rome, act like a Roman” - this is exactly the effect of joining.

This distortion can lead us to make not very good decisions (for example, go to a bad but popular movie or eat at a questionable place). And in the worst case, it leads to groupthink.

Groupthink is a phenomenon that arises in a group of people, within which conformism or the desire for social harmony leads to the suppression of all alternative opinions.

As a result, the group isolates itself from outside influences. Suddenly, diverging views becomes dangerous, and we begin to be our own censors. As a result, we lose our uniqueness and independence of thinking.

4. Survivor's mistake

Often we go to one more extreme: we focus exclusively on the stories of people who have achieved success. We are inspired by the success of Michael Jordan, not Kwame Brown or Jonathan Bender. We praise Steve Jobs and forget about Gary Kildall.

The problem with this effect is that we focus on 0,0001% of successful people, not the majority. This leads to a one-sided assessment of the situation.

For example, we may think that being an entrepreneur is easy because only successful people publish books about their business. But we don't know anything about those who failed. This is probably why all kinds of online gurus and experts have become so popular, promising to open "the only way to success." You just need to remember that the path that worked once will not necessarily lead you to the same result.

5. Loss aversion

Once we have made a choice and walk our path, other cognitive distortions come into play. Probably the worst of these is loss aversion, or the effect of ownership.

The loss aversion effect was popularized by psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, who found that we would rather avoid even a small loss than focus on the benefits we can get.

The fear of a small loss can keep a person from participating in the game, even if a fabulous win is possible. Kahneman and Tversky conducted an experiment with the most ordinary mug. People who did not have it were ready to pay about $ 3, 30 for it, and those who did have it were ready to part with it for only $ 7.

Consider how this effect might affect you if you are a budding entrepreneur. Are you afraid to think outside the box for fear of losing something? Does fear outweigh what you can gain?

So the problem is there. Where is the solution?

All cognitive biases have one thing in common: they appear due to the unwillingness to take a step back and look at the whole picture.

We prefer to work with something familiar and do not want to look for miscalculations in our plans. There are benefits to positive thinking. But, if you make important decisions blindly, you are unlikely to make the best choice possible.

Before making a serious decision, make sure you are not a victim of cognitive biases. To do this, take a step back and ask yourself:

• Why do you think you need to do this?
• Are there any counterarguments to your opinion? Are they wealthy?
• Who influences your beliefs?
• Do you follow other people's opinions because you really believe in them?
• What will you lose if you make such a decision? What will you get?

There are literally hundreds of different cognitive biases, and without them our brains simply could not function. But, if you do not analyze why you think this way and not otherwise, it is easy to fall into stereotyped thinking and forget how to think for yourself.

Personal growth is never easy. This is hard work to which you need to devote your entire self. Don't let your future get hurt just because it’s easier not to think.