I kept postponing writing this newsletter partly because I’ve been busy with my Master’s dissertation. But another reason is that what I intend to write about is a fascinating concept. I wanted to find enough time to research and piece my thoughts together. And I’m glad I’m finally doing that.
To provide some background: my dissertation was about a cognitive bias, which made me read about heuristics, decision making and judgement. It just happened that I had been itching to discuss cognitive biases!
However, because there are different aspects I wish to explore, I have decided to split this into two parts: in this first part, I will introduce cognitive biases and then delve into specific biases in the second part.
So let’s get into it :)
How we decide
A prevailing concept at some point in the history of psychology, posited by empiricist John Locke, was “tabula rasa”. This is the idea that individuals are born as a blank slate, and they have no built-in mental content at birth. According to this idea, all of our knowledge and understanding of the world come from experience, which we can only acquire after birth.
Of course, the current scientific consensus leans more towards a combination of nature (genes) and nurture (environment), which means we are not blank slates at birth. However, we can only acquire some knowledge about the world from experience.
If you look at a child, most of their first years on earth are used to explore and learn how the world works. This explains why the brain is most plastic (adaptable) during the first few years of life. In the last issue, I spoke about rediscovering our childlike curiosity as a way to see the world as fluid as it really is. This is because, during childhood, the brain is highly responsive to environmental stimuli, and learning happens more quickly.
A consequence of that learning is that as we grow and gain more experience, we develop mental models of the world. These models are our representation of how things work and are based on our experiences, beliefs and, particularly, knowledge of the world.
These mental models play a crucial role in our decision-making process. They help us predict outcomes, solve problems, and understand new information. For instance, the first time you learn that fire burns, it informs your future interactions with it.
Consequently, the more we understand the world and have these mental models, the better we make simple predictions about things in our daily lives. And the more complex models we build, the more we attempt complex predictions. Although it doesn’t mean our predictions will always be accurate, those predictions are nonetheless forms of judgements.
The problem with these mental models is that they can be developed on faulty perceptions that can lead to critical errors in judgement and decision-making. It is these errors that form the foundation for many cognitive biases.
Navigating complexities
The brain is complex, so complex that we still don’t fully understand it. It has taken millions of years of evolution for the human brain to be where it is today. And that means it has had millions of years to develop different pathways and connections. In fact, the brain is estimated to contain approximately 86 billion neurons, each of which can connect to many others.
The brain is, however, not just complex; it is capable. These neurons, having specialised functions, are how the brain receives stimuli and makes sense of them. They transmit electrical signals at a remarkable speed - as fast as 100 metres per second!
To put that in perspective: think about someone tapping you on your shoulder. You feel it instantly. Yet, neurons had to carry that stimulus first to your brain, and your brain had to recognise it as a touch specifically on your shoulder before you then become consciously aware of it. It’s simply mindblowing.
Fun fact: the brain itself does not feel pain. It is, however, responsible for interpreting painful stimuli and telling us to feel pain.
However, as complex and capable as the brain is, it is limited in how much information it can consciously process. For instance, the eyes can take in millions of pieces of visual information every minute. Just look up outside at the space before you: the colours, shapes, lights and shadows, each with its details, and the moving parts such as vehicles and people. The brain can't process all of this information.
Thus, using specific means to get the most salient information and make the most efficient decision quickly becomes necessary.
Attention is one of the most significant cognitive processes in this case. The brain selectively concentrates on specific aspects of the environment while ignoring the rest. You can see how this can lead to absorbing incomplete information, which could lead to missing out on crucial things.
But that’s not all; the brain also needs a way to piece together all of this information and use them to make decisions and judgements. That’s where heuristics come in.
Heuristics are mental shortcuts that the brain uses to make decisions and solve problems. Heuristics are particularly quick, even though they are not always accurate. Because we live in a complex world with lots and lots of data input, heuristics are incredibly useful because, with them, we don’t have to get bogged down by all the details before we can make decisions. That way, we can make “good enough” decisions that are satisfactory, even if they might not always be the best or most accurate.
However, while heuristics are generally helpful, they can sometimes lead to errors or biases in our thinking. This is because they simplify information and make assumptions that don’t accurately reflect reality.
Yet another shortcut…
To end this first part, I’ll introduce cognitive biases.
Cognitive biases are systematic errors in how we think. These errors then affect how we perceive the world and make decisions. They are like optical illusions but for the brain.
You are likely to have heard about a couple of these biases. Still, the fascinating thing is that knowing that they exist doesn’t usually protect us from being susceptible to them.
This is because these biases often operate unconsciously as the brain looks for the simplest way to process the information we’re receiving and make sense of our experiences and the world around us.
Understanding biases is a significant first step to knowing what to watch out for when making decisions. But keep in mind that although there are many biases, knowing each one by name is not the goal; the critical thing is to understand that we deal with the world through imperfect means, so we need to vet our processes.
In the next issue of this newsletter, we’ll discuss certain biases, how they affect our decision-making, and how to possibly override them.
💕