YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER…

Eight lazy shortcuts your brain takes that are worth bearing in mind

1. BANDWAGON EFFECT

The tendency to follow the beliefs and ideas of others, regardless of your own beliefs.

2. FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR

The knee-jerk assumption that if something bad happens to someone else, it’s because they’re incompetent or at fault, whereas if the same thing happens to you it’s because of bad luck.

3. GOOGLE EFFECT

The tendency to forget information that can be readily found online. The tendency for people to spend a disproportionate amount of time discussing trivial matters. For example, a committee debating the design of the staff bike shed in a new nuclear power plant. The tendency to latch on to and remember views that confirm our pre- existing beliefs.

6. RHYME AS REASON EFFECT

The tendency to perceive rhyming statements as more truthful.

7. JUSTT-WORLD JUST-WORLD HYPOTHESIS

The inherent assumption that the world is fair and that good actions are rewarded, rather than accepting it’s largely random and then working harder to achieve positive outcomes.

8. PLANNING FALLACY

The tendency to assume a planned journey/task will go as well as possible, no matter how much prior experience there is to the contrary.