Cognitive biases are systemic errors in thinking that negatively impact decision-making quality and outcomes.
1. Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon
Ever notice that something you just learned seems to pop up everywhere around you? The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon (also called the "Frequency Illusion") says that increased awareness of something creates the illusion that it is appearing more often.
You see something once and immediately become more likely to notice it the next time it appears, which reinforces your perception that it is constantly appearing in front of you.
Technically speaking, Egocentric Bias is a broad category of cognitive biases. In this case, however, I am specifically focused on one: the human tendency to have a higher view of one's self than is objectively warranted.
3. Fundamental Attribution Error
Fundamental Attribution Error is the human tendency to hold others accountable (while giving ourselves a break).
It says that humans will tend to:
- Attribute the actions of others to their character (and not to their situation or context).
- Attribute our own actions to situation and context (and not to our character).
Why do we do this? Well, as with many of the biases we will cover, it likely developed as a heuristic (a problem-solving or decision-making shortcut), in this case for simplifying the process and judgement around new human relationships.
4. Anchoring
Anchoring is a cognitive bias that is all about reference points. The "anchor" is a reference point of information - usually the first piece of information received on a topic. All subsequent thinking or decisions are silently "anchored" to this point.
5. Confirmation Bias
One of the most common cognitive biases, Confirmation Bias says that humans have a tendency to see and interpret information in a manner that supports previously held beliefs.
We systematically ignore evidence that negates our beliefs and embrace evidence that confirms them. As a result, we fail to see the world as it is (and instead see it how we want to see it).
Allowing Confirmation Bias to create and inform our world view is the "blue pill" - rejecting it is the "red pill".
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