Action Bias: Preferring Action Over Inaction

  The action bias is a cognitive bias that causes people to favor action over inaction, without properly considering the outcomes that this will bring. For example, the action bias can drive someone to make unnecessary changes to their investment portfolio, even if it would be better for them to do nothing. The action bias …

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The Platinum Rule: Treat Others the Way They Want to Be Treated

  The platinum rule is a moral principle which denotes that you should treat others the way they want to be treated. For example, the platinum rule denotes that if someone wants you to leave them alone, then you should do that. The platinum rule can be useful in many situations, but it’s important to …

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Begging the Question (Petitio Principii): Fallacious Circular Reasoning

  Begging the question (also called petitio principii or circular reasoning) is a logical fallacy that occurs when an argument’s premise depends on or is equivalent to the argument’s conclusion. In other words, an argument begs the question if one or more of its premises assume that the argument’s conclusion is necessarily true. For example, …

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The von Restorff Isolation Effect: What Stands Out Is Remembered Better

  The von Restorff isolation effect (sometimes called the von Restorff effect or the isolation effect) is a cognitive bias that causes people to remember things better when they stand out from other things that they’re next to. For example, the von Restorff isolation effect means that people who are shown a color photo in …

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The Projection Bias: People Underestimate How Much They Will Change

  The projection bias is a cognitive bias that causes people to overestimate the degree to which their future attributes (e.g., tastes and beliefs) will resemble their current ones. Essentially, this bias leads people to engage in flawed self-forecasting, by projecting their current attributes onto their future self, and thus underestimating how much their attributes …

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The Bias Blind Spot: People Are Often Unaware of Their Own Biases

  The bias blind spot is a cognitive bias that causes people to be less aware of their own biases than of those of others, and to assume that they’re less susceptible to biases than others. For example, the bias blind spot can cause someone to assume that other people’s political stance is influenced by …

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Belief Bias: When People Rely on Beliefs Rather Than Logic

  The belief bias is a cognitive bias that causes people to over-rely on preexisting beliefs and knowledge when evaluating the conclusions of an argument, instead of properly considering the argument’s content and structure. Accordingly, the belief bias means that people tend to: Accept arguments that align with their preexisting beliefs, even if those arguments …

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How to Make Decisions: A Guide for When You Can’t Choose

  Making decisions is a crucial part of life, but many people struggle to make decisions, in one way or another. Some people, for example, are naturally indecisive, and therefore struggle to make decisions in a timely manner, even when it comes to trivial things, such as choosing what to eat for dinner. Other people, on …

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Why It’s Hard to Make Decisions (Especially Good, Fast Ones)

  Making decisions is often hard, and making good decisions quickly is even harder. Accordingly, many people struggle when it comes to making big life-alternating decisions, such as which college to go to or what career path to pursue. Furthermore, some people also struggle with other types of decisions, from somewhat important decisions, such as …

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