Navigating the maze of cognitive biases – where perception meets reality… in the era of the “Breaking News” Spoiler alert. We’re all biased…

An example of cognitive bias is the anchoring bias. This is when individuals rely too heavily on the first piece of information encountered (the “anchor”) upon making decisions.

For instance, if given an initial price for a product, people may base their perception of its value on that anchor, even if subsequent information suggests a different assessment.

Another example of cognitive bias is the availability bias. When people rely on information READILY available to them, rather than seeking a more comprehensive and perhaps balanced view.

For instance, if RECENT news reports emphasize a specific type of event, individuals may overestimate the frequency or importance of that event due to its heightened availability regardless on the rational weight the event represents.

How to avoid the availability trapOne key to prevent falling in the availability trap when it comes to news reports and media in general is this:

Rationality. Reason. Hierarchy ergo prioritizing facts involving human beings through 2 very reasonable lenses:

1/Justice. In a reasonable judiciary system, the bigger the crime the bigger the sentencing.

Well the bigger the possible sentencing for potential crime in the news, the bigger an impact and echo it should have in the news…

2/Health. Imagine you’re an emergency health worker. There’s only 2 of you and someone with a fractured leg comes, then another case of severe pain and bleeding and then a 3rd obvious case of a heart attack arrives…

What do you do first?

Focus on fixing the broken leg? The hemorrhage, the heart attack? Lookout for people wearing red socks. They’re your top priority because your favorite color is red!?

Why trying to understand cognitive biases is important?Well, if we can’t identify them or at the very least question them and try, we will never be able to THINK and ACT beyond them thus in a REASONABLE manner💜⚖️🧠.

That said ,what is one person’s definition of reasonable may not be yours. Well let’s quote Descartes. A reasonable choice surely!

“In what regards manners, everyone is so full of his own wisdom, that there might be as many reformers as heads”In his “Rules for the direction of the mind” 🇫🇷Descartes emphasized 4 main guidelines

1/ Accept nothing as true that is not self-evident2/ Divide problems into their simplest parts3/ Solve problems by proceeding from simple to complex4/ Recheck the reasoning.Want to know more? You can navigate the maze of cognitive bias through this map 🗺️:

https://lnkd.in/ehPwRnCu

➕more sources and food for thought below 👇

On the anchoring bias

1/https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/anchoring-bias

2/https://cocosci.princeton.edu/papers/AnchoringSimulations.pdf

3/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S105353571000141

On the availability bias

1/https://nesslabs.com/availability-bias

2/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/366579357_Availability_Heuristic_An_Overview_and_Applications

3/https://www.berkeleywellbeing.com/availability-heuristic.html