Parsimony is a guiding principle which suggests that we should prefer simpler explanations and solutions over more complex ones, all other things being equal. For example, if you hear barking from inside your house, and you own a dog, it’s better to assume that you’re hearing your own dog right now, than to assume …
The just-world hypothesis is the mistaken belief that actions always lead to morally fair consequences, so good people are rewarded and bad people are punished. For example, a person is displaying the just-world hypothesis when they assume that if someone experienced a tragic misfortune, then they must have done something to deserve it. The just-world …
The appeal to emotion is a logical fallacy that involves manipulating people’s emotions to strengthen their support for the conclusion of an unsound argument (e.g., one that’s misleading or baseless). For example, a person using an appeal to emotion in a debate might encourage the audience to ignore certain, by trying to make the …
The zero-sum bias occurs when people mistakenly expect gains and losses to be directly balanced in a situation where they’re not, especially in terms of one party benefiting directly at the expense of others. For example, the zero-sum bias can cause someone to think that a resource they’re interested in is limited, meaning that …
People often care more about proving that they’re right or doing something just because they’re entitled to do it, than they do about doing the most optimal thing that they can. For example, this can happen when someone points out a trivial mistake that their partner made during a discussion, even though doing so …
Premature optimization involves trying to improve something—especially with the goal of perfecting it—when it’s too early to do so. For example, a software developer could engage in premature optimization by spending a lot of time trying to write a piece of flawless code, even though it’s unclear whether this code will actually be needed. Premature …
The psychologist’s fallacy is a logical fallacy that occurs when an external observer assumes that their subjective interpretation of something represents the objective nature of that thing. Most notably, this is associated with the mistaken assumption that your (third-person) interpretation of someone else’s mental state (e.g., how they feel or what they think) is …
The rhyme-as-reason effect is a cognitive bias that makes people more likely to believe statements that contain a rhyme, compared to statements that don’t. For example, people generally perceive the statement “woes unite foes” as more accurate than the statements “woes unite enemies” and “misfortunes unite foes”—even though they all mean roughly the same …
Precommitment is a technique where you intentionally limit the future options available to you, to ensure your commitment to some course of action. Generally, precommitment involves eliminating options that you want to avoid (e.g., by throwing out unhealthy food from your house), making those options more difficult to choose (e.g., by putting unhealthy food …
A placebo is something, such as a substance or procedure, that has no inherent ability to directly produce an effect of interest, but which can nevertheless produce this effect indirectly, generally through a psychological response. Most commonly, the term “placebo” is used in the medical context, to refer to an inert substance (e.g., a …