Behaviouronomics

In 1983, Daniel Kahneman — the famous behavioural scientist — and his colleague Amos Tversky, published this example in Psychology Review. The example is about a fictitious character called Linda.

Linda is 31 years old, single, outspoken and very bright. She majored in philosophy. As a student, she was deeply concerned with issues of discrimination and social justice, and also participated in anti-nuclear demonstrations. Based on this information about Linda, you have to estimate which of the following statements about Linda are more likely to be true.
[Read more…] about Behaviouronomics: The Conjunction Fallacy

I had written about Cognitive Dissonance a few years back. You can read it here. Over the years, I have collected some more insights on the topic.

For the uninitiated, here’s a definition from Wikipedia —

In psychology, Cognitive Dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time; performs an action that is contradictory to their beliefs, ideas, or values; or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values.

Leon Festinger, the psychologist who developed the theory of Cognitive Dissonance, figured that human beings do not deal with conflicting beliefs and perceptions by testing them against facts. They reduce the conflict by reinterpreting facts that challenge the beliefs to which they are most attached.
[Read more…] about Behaviouronomics: More Thoughts on Cognitive Dissonance

An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction. To me, the word motivated reasoning seems like an oxymoron. Let me explain.

Sound reasoning should be objective — devoid of any or all biases/motivations. Right?

But the human mind is a house of paradoxical features. As it tries to get rid of one bias, it leaves the backdoor open for the same bias. Motivated reasoning is a bias that affects that part of our mind which is often referred to as rational and objective.

Let me give you a quick refresher on System 1 Vs. System 2 concept.

World famous psychologist Daniel Kahneman has done revolutionary work in the field of understanding human cognition. His two systems framework is a brilliant mental construct to decode how our brain makes decisions. System 1 is the result of our reflexive brain — quick and eager to jump to conclusions. System 2 is our reflective brain — slower, effortful, logical, and less prone to error.
[Read more…] about Behaviouronomics: Motivated Reasoning

Let me ask you a simple question. What’s the shape of the earth?

You might say, “Round.” To sound little more accurate, some of you might say, “Earth is like a solid sphere.” Those who are mathematically inclined would probably point out that the earth is a spheroid that bulges at the equator and is somewhat squashed at the poles.

What if I told you that there’s a large group of people who (still) believe that the earth is a flat circular disc with a large dome covering it from all sides and the sun and the moon are man-made lights hung on a huge pole standing at the center of the circular disc?

Yes, in the 21st century there exists a real flat earth society. And these people aren’t crazy. They’re a thriving community and perhaps growing. Google it.

Of course, the flat earth model doesn’t explain everything but it’s interesting to observe a flat-earther’s response when you ask him to explain why certain observations don’t fit his theory. Instead of re-evaluating the validity of his beliefs, he’d take the refuge of a conspiracy theory. And like all conspiracy theories, everything can be reasoned by flat-earthers using circular logic.

[Read more…] about Behaviouronomics: The Backfire Effect

A picture, they say, speaks a thousand words. There’s something magical about colourful shapes and lines that make them attractive to human eyes. Homo Sapiens’ love for pictures dates back to the time when our ancestors lived the life of hunter-gatherers.

Below is a painting from Lascaux Cave. It’s estimated that it was created by our ancestors 15,000–20,000 years ago.

The lizard brain inside our skull — that part of our mental machinery which has remained unchanged for millions of years — is pretty acquainted with pictures, images, and colourful shapes. The ability to recognize shapes, lines, and contours gave our ancestors an evolutionary advantage to survive in a hostile environment.

[Read more…] about Behaviouronomics: Chartist’s Illusion