Thy Brain, Messes With Thee…
Unintentional omissions of our thought processes influence the way we live and work. While rationale and rationality are talked about, they are not tangible or absolute in nature. The thing with lapses of reasoning and understanding is they are innately ingrained in us. Our biases make us human. The fact that we perceive, formulate, understand, and calculate makes us gullible to patterns, stereotypes, profiling, and biases. In short your brain messes with your decision-making process. Our understanding of our world is built with us at the center and our personalities, likes, and dislikes play an important role in our view of the world.
“We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are” — Anaïs Nin
We create our own “subjective reality” from their perception of the input, obviously the input matters — but equally matters our subjective perception of the same. The spectrum of subjectivity is best reflected in an anecdotal story of blind monks and the elephant. Every blind monk touches a different part of the elephant. The one who touches the tail thinks the Elephant is like a rope, the one who touches his feet, finds him to be like a tree trunk, and so on and so forth. While their perception is limited by their senses, everyone’s perception is limited by their own cognitive bias. It makes them prone to a lot of mistakes in sound decision-making. Knowing about these biases is both fun and enables us to be cognizant of the same — be a little less sure and full of ourselves at times too. These biases have an impact on how people reason, create beliefs, make commercial and economic decisions, and behave generally. Here are three to look out for:
#1 Confirmation Bias
The propensity for people to favor information that supports their preexisting views or assumptions is known as confirmation bias. When someone has confirmation bias, they overvalue evidence that supports their ideas and undervalues evidence that contradicts them.
During the Renaissance, scholars rediscovered many classical texts that challenged the dominant religious views of the time. However, some Church authorities dismissed these texts or reinterpreted them to fit their existing beliefs. This confirmation bias limited the free flow of ideas and slowed the progress of knowledge.
Something similar is seen in the infamous Salem Witch Trials of 1692, a wave of hysteria gripped Salem, Massachusetts, as a group of young girls claimed to be afflicted by witchcraft. In this atmosphere of fear and suspicion, people were more likely to believe accusations of witchcraft, especially if they fit their existing beliefs about certain individuals. This confirmation bias led to the wrongful execution of innocent people. These witch hunts continue to this day in the political sphere…and that’s exactly what they are called…
#2 Dunning–Kruger Effect
This one is interesting. Do you constantly underestimate yourself? You are in for a treat. Due to a cognitive bias known as the Dunning-Kruger effect, individuals who are less skilled, knowledgeable, or experienced in relation to a particular activity or subject of knowledge are more likely to overestimate their skill or knowledge. Some studies have also shown that high performers tend to underestimate their abilities.
Bertrand Rusell summed it up correctly “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.”
#3 Sunk Cost Bias
At its core, the sunk cost fallacy hinges on an irrational attachment to past investments, regardless of their irrelevance to future outcomes. Picture this: You’ve purchased tickets to a movie, only to find halfway through that it’s dreadful. Despite the prospect of enduring another hour of cinematic agony, you may feel compelled to stay, driven by the desire to "get your money’s worth." This inclination to honor past investments, even when doing so defies logic, exemplifies the sunk cost fallacy in action.
Furthermore, the sunk cost fallacy perpetuates a cycle of escalating commitment, wherein individuals double down on their investments in a futile attempt to salvage their initial outlay. Whether in personal endeavors or corporate ventures, this relentless pursuit of sunk costs can lead to disastrous outcomes, as resources are squandered on endeavors devoid of potential returns.
