You know how sometimes you do something really dumb and go "What the hell was I thinking?" Yeah, those facepalm moments. Well, this book is all about calling out those mental hiccups, as Rolf Dobelli calls them, that lead us down an irrational path. Dobelli, who's a novelist by trade, got intrigued by all the weird ways our minds can trick us into thinking crazy thoughts or doing nonsensical things. So he started jotting down all these cognitive glitches that...
The act of overestimating ourselves, almost always
Let’s transport ourselves to good old school days. Do you remember getting a perfect 10 and crediting nobody and nothing around you but yourself for the success? And on certain bad days, had you performed poorly, then everyone and everything would be responsible for that crappy score but you. It’s no surprise; That’s what human nature is! Credit the success to our abilities, and failure to external factors. And hey! We’re not the only ones saying this. Research backs it...
Overestimating Control and Prediction Abilities
You a football fan? Has this ever happened: you're watching a game, and you start yelling at the players or making wild gestures. We do it as if that might actually influence what's happening on the screen. Surprise, surprise! That's another mind trick. They call it The Illusion of control! It's the tendency we have to believe we can affect outcomes over which we truly have zero control. The illusion helps sometimes, because we believe that the more control we...
The Phenomenon of Social Proof
Rolf Dobelli said, “If 50 million people say something foolish, it is still foolish.” Do you agree with Dobelli ? If you do, then why do you join the audience clapping and appreciating an opera performance when you understand nothing about it? If not an opera performance, maybe it would be appreciating modern art when all you could see was just wriggly lines etched in a random fashion. But when others saw it more profoundly, you suddenly find the piece...
The Confirmation Bias
“He was never right for you to begin with. I told you. I was right. But you never listened.” Either in virtual or real-life drama, you must have come across this line. The speaker of the line is a true victim, just like all of us, of confirmation bias – the mother of all misconceptions! Confirmation bias is the tendency to interpret new information in a way that your previous view doesn’t change. See, good or bad but the change...
Context is Everything in Decision Making
If you’re considering getting attention and yet bringing your prettiest friend to the club with you, well……it wouldn’t be a really bright idea! Why do we say that ? Well, it is because making “absolute” judgments doesn’t come easy to us. Others wouldn’t judge you for your true value. They’d just compare you to your friend and choose the prettier looking. It is the comparisons that we rely on - with the brain going "Sure, that thing seems ugly, but...
The bias of getting distracted by interesting things and overlooking statistical reality
Meet Mark. He is a thin man from Germany with glasses who likes to listen to Mozart. Which is more likely? Option A: Mark is a truck driver; or Option b: He is a professor of literature in Frankfurt. Honestly, we picked Option B, and we’re sure that most of you picked the same as well. But hang on a second! Germany has ten thousand times the number of truck drivers than Frankfurt has literature professors, so it is much...
Our Brains Filter Reality
Heavy rains in southern England caused a river to overflow, submerging the usual crossing point for vehicles. Despite the police closing the road and diverting traffic, for two weeks at least one car a day attempted to drive through the rushing water. These drivers were so focused on their navigation systems that they completely missed the obvious danger right in front of them.This scenario showcases a well-known phenomenon in psychology called the "illusion of attention." We tend to believe we...
The act of facing paradox of choices
These days, there are ‘options, options, everywhere!’ Grocery stores offer a staggering number of yogurt flavors, and online retailers boast millions of book titles. Compared to the limited options of the past, we're bombarded with choices in every sphere - career paths, vacation destinations, and even mental health diagnoses.This “extra” is often seen as a sign of progress. But it can be a double-edged sword. Psychologists like Barry Schwartz warn of the "paradox of choice." In an experiment conducted at...
Falling into the trap of “like attracts like”
What happens when you see an extremely “beautiful” person? Everything about that person seems perfect. They look more honest, pleasant and intelligent. Is that the truth, though? Nope! It’s just the halo effect which tricks our brains into thinking something is great or terrible based on one feature alone – whether it’s beauty, age, social status, etc. This effect isn’t something new. The psychologist Edward Lee Thorndike discovered the halo effect nearly 100 years ago.Cisco's story will help us understand...
The bias of making emotion-driven decisions
Okay, pop quiz time! Let's say someone asks your opinion on, say, getting a pet dolphin. How would you decide if that's a good idea or not? Think it through for a sec. Most of us would instinctively just go with our gut feeling on it. Does the idea of having a dolphin buddy make you giddy with delight? Or does it fill you with dread over the hassles and ethics of dolphin captivity? Whichever your instant emotional reaction is...
Chapter 13
Details coming soon.
Summary
Our brains aren't perfect decision-making machines. And they're not infallible! As you just saw, we're wired with a whole host of cognitive quirks that can lead us astray - from overestimating our abilities to falling for the herd mentality. But thankfully, awareness is half the battle. By understanding these mental pitfalls, we can catch ourselves in the act and make more clear-headed decisions. So next time you're faced with a tough choice, take a step back. Question your assumptions, consider...
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About the Author
Rolf Dobelli (born in 1966) received his MBA and PhD in philosophy from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. He is a serial entrepreneur, thinker and writer. He co-founded getAbstract. He also founded WORLD.MINDS, a community of some of the world’s most distinguished thinkers, scientists, artists and entrepreneurs, including Nobel prize winner Joe Stiglitz, Matt Ridley (The Rational Optimist), Henry Kissinger, historian Niall Ferguson, philosopher Daniel Dennett, Henry Kravis, General David Petraeus and many others. He regularly writes for Europe’s most esteemed newspapers, including Germany’s Die Zeit, FAZ („Germany’s New York Times“), NZZ, Die WELT, and Switzerland’s Sonntagszeitung. From 2003 until 2008, Dobelli hosted a weekly television show about books and business topics on Bloomberg Television Germany. He has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, POLICITO, Financial Times, Harvard Management Update and many other U.S. and European business publications.
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