More on Cognitive Bias

Cognitive Misconceptions

Introduction

The human brain has evolved over millions of years. The dominant hardwiring is based around our ancestors surviving in small groups of hunters and gatherers.
"...Our brains often jump to swift conclusions without much thinking, which used to help us avoid immediate dangers. We are interested in gossip and dramatic stories, which used to be the only source of news and useful information. We crave sugar and fats which used to be life-saving sources of energy when food was scarce..."
Hans Rosling et al, 2018

Instincts that were useful thousands of years ago are less relevant now and can be harmful; our sugar and fat craving makes obesity one of the largest health problems in the world today.

Similarly, our quick-thinking brains have a craving for drama and this can cause misconceptions, eg over-dramatic worldview by distorting the data. This dramatic instinct is still important as it gives you your world view and helps us through the day, ie
"...if we sifted every input and analysed every decision rationally, a normal life would be impossible..."
Hans Rosling et al, 2018

It is impossible for your brains to consume all the information out there; it would overload and paralyse you. It needs to prioritise and select the relevant information.

How is information processed and selected; what do we ignore? Our brain acts like an attention filter, ie
"...we end up paying attention to information that fits our dramatic instincts and ignore information that does not..."
Hans Rosling et al, 2018

You have a preference for stories, especially those that sound dramatic and unusual; need to be careful that you do not regard the unusual as usual.

However, you need to learn to control these instincts, otherwise you develop an unreal picture of your world which can cause problems. You need to see the world as it really is. You need to use critical thinking to replace or refine your instinctive reaction.

There are 10 human instincts that are data-distorting and cause mega-misconceptions. They can distort your perspective about what is happening.

Your cognitive biases influence your perspectives and impacts on your judgement.

People misinterpret facts.
NB
"...a good general principle of statistics: be careful jumping to any conclusion if the differences are smaller than say roughly 10%..."
Hans Rosling et al, 2018