Cognitive biases in everyday life

In short: Cognitive biases are systematic thinking errors that unconsciously influence judgement. They arise because the brain uses shortcuts to make decisions quickly.

In more detail: Such thinking patterns are normal and affect everyone, not just “illogical” people.

In detail

• Confirmation bias: Information that supports one’s own opinion is preferentially noticed.
• Availability heuristic: Easily recalled examples are judged as more common than they really are.
• Anchoring effect: The first number mentioned strongly influences later estimates.
• Loss aversion: Losses weigh psychologically heavier than equally sized gains.
• Hindsight bias: After an event it seems more predictable in retrospect than it actually was.
• Countermeasures: Deliberately seek opposing viewpoints and question decisions.
• Benefit: Knowledge of biases helps with important decisions such as investments (entscheidungen-treffen-psychologie).