5 Life-Changing Biases
Do you consider yourself a rational person? If you’re anything like everyone else I know the answer is yes. You might like to believe that you’re in control of your fate, consciously planning the course of your life, but you may be unaware of how deeply your emotions dominate you.
I’ve made plenty of mistakes as a young adult, and though I’d like to believe I’ve learned from a lot of them, I haven’t, until now. Plenty of people find themselves caught in seemingly unbreakable cycles.
- Being in trouble with authority figures.
- Abusive relationships.
- Job hopping.
- Not seeing things through to their ends.
An outside force is not to blame for our failures and negative emotions, it’s simply the expectations we set, so we have to ask ourselves if we’re being realistic and rational in the first place.
The Pleasure Principal
Did you know that your emotions affect your thought processes and decisions? The most common emotion is the desire to feel pleasure, instead of pain. Human thinking revolves around this desire. If you believe you’re immune to the following biases, you can blame it all on the pleasure principle.
1. The Confirmation Bias
Looking only for new or existing evidence that supports our existing point of view rather than admitting we are wrong. Our brains process so much data that rather than looking for evidence that could dispose of the beliefs of our tribal systems, we defend our group because it helps us survive. Tribes where people who are all on the same page flourish better than groups made up of selfish individuals. Sometimes it’s better to admit you’re wrong or don’t know at all.
2. The Conviction Bias
This bias is used by salesman all the time, and even I have used it myself (I’ll explain how). The conviction bias is the belief that because it draws a strong emotion or feeling out of us, it must be true. We do this when we argue. Whoever can scream the loudest without losing control of their temper must be right, otherwise, they wouldn’t feel such strong emotion in the first place. Good salesmen use heated words, gestures, colorful metaphors, meaningful anecdotes all with a firmly held belief, to make better sales, even if they’re just pretending. While others whose tone is more hesitant appear as though they’re lying, even if they’re telling the truth.
3. The Appearance Bias
Also known as the “Halo Effect.” We see people not as they are, but how they appear to us. Appearances as we all know can be misleading, people have trained themselves in social situations to put on a front that will be judged positively.
- Goodlooking = Trustworthy
- Succesful = Ethical
- Tall = Good Leader
Don’t judge a book by its cover.
4. The Group Bias
My ideas are my own. I do not listen to the group. I am not a conformist.
Isolation is depressing. We’re social animals by nature, so, anytime we find people who think as we do, we experience great relief, and as if by magic we take on the new beliefs of the group without any overt pressure applied. Few would ever admit this influence on their thought patterns.
5. The Blame Bias
We blame others, circumstances, and events for our mistakes and failures because our introspection is limited. It’s very painful to judge ourselves for our own mistakes and see ourselves as flawed beings. Over time, emotion blinds us, and we repeat the same mistake again.
People generally believe (in variations) that they are different, more rational, and more ethical than others because they can’t see their faults and irrationalities, only those of others. Being rational comes with awareness and effort. It comes with maturity, not naturally.
