Clik here to view.
Alleged ‘Excessive Force’ Incident a Case Study in Cognitive Bias
Picture this in your mind: On a cool evening in late October, a man driving a crew-cab pickup with roll bars in the bed pulls into the parking lot of an upscale grocery store in Santa Barbara. The man...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Learning Effectively From Experience: Distinguishing High from Low Performers
High performers learn from both success and failure making small adjustments. Conversely, low performers, learned more from success. Learning effectively from experience is a daunting task for any...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Science of Why We Don’t Believe Science
“A man with a conviction is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point.”...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why do people defend unjust, inept, and corrupt systems?
…When we’re threatened we defend ourselves—and our systems. Before 9/11, for instance, President George W. Bush was sinking in the polls. But as soon as the planes hit the World Trade Center, the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Motivated Reasoning
Ezra Klein, writing in the New Yorker, explores the intersection of psychology and politics. Jonathan Haidt, a professor of psychology at New York University’s business school, argues in a new book,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Half-life of Facts
Facts change all the time. Smoking has gone from doctor recommended to deadly. We used to think the Earth was the center of the universe and that Pluto was a planet. For decades we were convinced that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The 12 cognitive biases that prevent you from being rational
i09 produced a great overview of some cognitive biases. First, the difference between cognitive biases and logical fallacies: A logical fallacy is an error in logical argumentation (e.g. ad hominem...
View ArticleClik here to view.
“The world is much more interesting than any one discipline.”
“The world is much more interesting than any one discipline.” — Edward Tufte NPR’s Science Friday talks with data scientist Edward Tufte on everything from Steve Jobs’ considerations of cognitive load...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How you can instantly improve your marriage
Most of us see what we want to see. If we’re arguing with a spouse, we’re going to start seeing all of their faults. After all, it’s not my fault it’s your fault. Once we’ve labeled someone as, say,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work
Decisive, a new book by Chip and Dan Heath comes out today. The book tackles one of the most critical topics in work and life: how to make better decisions. “A remarkable aspect of your mental life is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why Your Brain Avoids Information It Doesn’t Agree With
The curious thing about curiosity is that we tend to seek out information that tells us what we already believe. Our brains are programmed to construct a robust model of how the world works and then...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Three Steps to Effective Decision Making
Making an important decision is never easy, but making the right decision is even more challenging. Effective decision-making isn’t just about accumulating information and going with what seems to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Falsification
“The human mind is a lot like the human egg, and the human egg has a shut-off device. When one sperm gets in, it shuts down so the next one can’t get in.” — Charlie Munger Sir Karl Popper wrote that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nassim Taleb: How to Not be a Sucker From the Past
“History is useful for the thrill of knowing the past, and for the narrative (indeed), provided it remains a harmless narrative.” — Nassim Taleb The fact that new information exists about the past in...
View ArticleLearning Effectively From Experience: Distinguishing High from Low Performers
High performers learn from both success and failure making small adjustments. Conversely, low performers learned more from success. Learning effectively from experience is a daunting task for any...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Confirmation Bias And the Power of Disconfirming Evidence
Confirmation bias is our tendency to cherry-pick information that confirms our existing beliefs or ideas. Confirmation bias explains why two people with opposing views on a topic can see the same...
View ArticleThe Narratives of History: Applying Lessons from the Past
“History is written by the winners” is the popular view. But your winner may not be my winner. A lot depends on the narrative you are trying to build. History is rewritten all the time. Sometimes it is...
View ArticleFuture Babble: Why expert predictions fail and why we believe them anyway
Future Babble has come out to mixed reviews. I think the book would interest anyone seeking wisdom. Here are some of my notes: First a little background: Predictions fail because the world is too...
View ArticleA Wandering Mind: How Travel Can Change the Way You Think
Most people travel as an observer, and as a result, “see” a lot. When you travel as an active participant, the experience can transform the way you think, and how you see the world. *** Here’s a...
View Article
