We're Not as Rational as We Think: Cognitive Biases That Run Our Decisions

Hello,

Today I want to step away from the news cycle and write something more psychological. A piece that brings together what well-known writers and psychologists say about why we behave the way we do.

Ideas that help explain us. Read them calmly, without rushing to say "oh come on, that's not me." I'll leave the whys and hows for another essay. Today I simply want to hand you the headlines, a summary of our own illusions, and maybe later we can analyse them together. These are the things I took for myself from David McRaney's research, and I wanted to share them with you.

While you read this, pause for a moment and look around the room you're in. Don't only see the objects or the people. See the centuries of process behind every piece of technology around you, including all the parts you can't see. Of course it's natural for us to feel proud of what humans have achieved. But think, too, about the absurd mistakes we keep making.

We think we know how the world works. We don't.

The truth is that psychology and the cognitive sciences produce new studies every day showing that we don't really know why we act and think the way we do. So here they are, 21 of our illusions and the truths behind them.

If you feel a little uncomfortable while reading, we're on the right track. :)

Why do we believe we're rational?

1. Us

The misconception: We are logical, rational beings who see the world exactly as it is.

The truth: You are fooled, like all of us. And that's perfectly normal. It's what keeps you sane.

Say we hear that Albert Einstein refused to eat boiled eggs. We might start thinking boiled eggs aren't good for us. This is called the argument from authority. Once you accept that someone is a genius compared to you, you assume all their choices are good choices. Then again, maybe Einstein just had his own particular taste. Who knows. :)

2. Confirmation bias

The misconception: Your opinions are the result of years of rational, objective analysis.

The truth: Your opinions are the result of years of paying attention to information that confirmed what you already believed, while ignoring whatever challenged it.

3. The third person effect

The misconception: You believe your opinions and decisions are based on experience and facts, while people who disagree with you have fallen for propaganda from sources you don't trust.

The truth: Everyone believes the people who think differently are fools, and everyone thinks they are far harder to fool than they really are.

4. Hindsight bias

The misconception: After you learn something new, you realise how ignorant or wrong you once were.

The truth: Looking back, you usually assume you knew it all along, or that you always believed it.

5. The availability heuristic

The misconception: Thanks to mass media, you can understand how the world works through carefully chosen facts and statistics drawn from many examples.

The truth: If you can find just one example of something, you're more likely to believe it's common. And you're less likely to believe in something you've never heard of or seen before.

6. The representativeness heuristic

The misconception: Knowing someone's background makes it easier to know what kind of person they are.

The truth: You judge people by how closely they resemble the character types already lodged in your mind. In other words, by prejudice.

Why do we give up, freeze, or go along with the crowd?

7. Learned helplessness

The misconception: If you're in a bad situation, you'll do whatever you can to get out of it.

The truth: If you feel you have no control over your fate, you give up and accept the situation you're in.

8. The bystander effect

The misconception: When someone gets hurt, the people around them rush to help.

The truth: The more people witness an emergency, the less likely any one of them is to help.

9. Self-handicapping

The misconception: In everything you do, you try your best to succeed.

The truth: To protect your ego, you often set up the conditions for your future failures in advance.

10. Conformity

The misconception: You are a strong individual who doesn't bend unless forced to.

The truth: An authority figure or a little social pressure is all it takes for you to obey. Fitting in is a survival instinct.

11. Social loafing

The misconception: When you join others on a task, you work harder and do better.

The truth: When you're part of a group, you tend to put in less effort, because you know your work will be counted together with everyone else's.

12. Brand loyalty

The misconception: You prefer the things you own because you made rational choices when you bought them.

The truth: You prefer the things you own because you're justifying your past choices to protect your sense of self.

How do we fool ourselves in arguments?

13. The appeal to authority

The misconception: What matters to you is whether information is true, not who says it.

The truth: A person's status and credibility shape how you perceive their message, a great deal.

14. The argument from ignorance

The misconception: When you can't explain something, you focus on what you can prove.

The truth: When you're unsure about something, you tend to accept strange explanations.

15. The straw man fallacy

The misconception: When you argue, you stick to the facts.

The truth: In any argument, anger pushes you to reframe your opponent's position into something easier to knock down.

16. The just world fallacy

The misconception: People who lose at the game of life must have done something to deserve it.

The truth: Lucky people often did nothing to earn their luck, and bad people often get away with what they do.

17. The tragedy of the commons

The misconception: We can build a system without rules where everyone contributes to the common good, everyone benefits, and everyone is happy.

The truth: Without some rules, the lazy and the cheaters bring economic systems down, because nobody wants to feel like the sucker.

Why do smart groups and smart people still get it wrong?

18. Subjective validation

The misconception: You are sceptical of generalisations.

The truth: You tend to believe vague statements and predictions are true, especially when they're positive and seem addressed to you personally. This one included.

19. Groupthink

The misconception: Problems are easier to solve when a group gets together and discusses the solution.

The truth: The desire to reach consensus and avoid conflict blocks progress.

20. Self-serving bias

The misconception: You judge yourself based on your past successes and failures.

The truth: You make excuses for your mistakes and see yourself as more successful, smarter and more capable than you are.

21. The fundamental attribution error

The misconception: People's behaviour reflects their personality.

The truth: People's behaviour is shaped far more by the situation than by their character.

So what do we do with all this?

Before we give up or lose hope, we need to accept that we are human first. And that we always need our plans B, C and D ready.

If we don't become more flexible, we break.

As we shape our future, it's always good to build an alternative scenario. It keeps us strong in times like these. It doesn't pull us away from our vision. If anything, it gives us the motivation to reach it.

I believe we can do it. You are not alone, please don't forget that.

Together we stand, divided we fall.

P.S. Of course it's possible to deal with things on your own. But all of us need support, a place to tell our story, and to be understood. You can reach me whenever you like at gizemsahan@gizemsahan.com.

With love,

Gizem

This essay was first published in Turkish on gizemsahan.com.

If this raised a question you'd like to think through, we can look at it together. Book a free 30-minute Discovery Call.