Cognitive Biases
Below is a short, incomplete list of common cognitive biases, faulty thinking, etc. everyone suffers from at times. This causes numerous problems for ourselves and others we interact with. They can impede our ability to understand others and their arguments fairly. They keep us at times from admitting our mistakes and false beliefs, or even recognizing them, thus keeping us from learning from our mistakes and improving. They can cause us to misunderstand and to even hate others as a result. This is not good or a pretty sight. (See Scott Alexander’s long essay, “I Can Tolerate Anything Except The Outgroup” I will link to in a future post)
It is thus important to familiarize oneself with these and avoid, or try to overcome them in oneself. Unless you want to contribute to the misunderstanding, judging and hate in the world these can cause. And no, it’s not just those bad people in your out-group that do that.
I will be referring back to these and more in future posts on a variety of subjects I will cover.
- Fundamental attribution error,
- Rationalization,
- Black and White thinking,
- In-group/out-group bias,
- Echo chambers,
- Confirmation bias,
- Dunning – Kruger Effect,
- Cognitive dissonance,
- Bias blind spot,
- Belief perseverance,
- etc.
If you are familiar with all the above, you are doing better than most. You can either skip the posts on these or read them to refresh your knowledge.
If you are starting at square one, I suggest learning what the Fundamental Attribution Error is (next post) and instead use what Philosophers call The Principle of Charity (couple of posts after that) in dealing with people.
Start with those two simple things, if nothing else, and see if it helps, especially with understanding, and treating more charitably, those in your out-group.
I don’t see many people doing this, let alone understanding and dealing with the others on the list. Which is why I am bringing all this up. They cause needless or avoidable misunderstanding, prejudice, hate, and human suffering. I don’t know wether to laugh or cry at the human condition here at times. It seems farcical to watch. The YouTube video in the next post illustrates this.
Ignorance is a choice. Expand your thinking.
Here’s an article covering various cognitive biases:
Cognitive Biases: What They Are and How They Affect You