This is exactly the first thought I had when I finished the Kahneman book. We can't avoid biases, and whoever claims the contrary, probably has a cognitive bias bias (as you awesomely wrote). And so I thought what's the use of knowing all this stuff (and getting a Nobel Prize on it btw), if it's part of us anyway and we can't get rid of it? We always had them even when we didn't know we had them, before all the behavioral psychology studies that flooded science over the last 2-3 decades. So, my question is (and has been for a while): do we really need to know these things? As you put it perfectly, "Life can't be conquered, piece by piece. It's more like a dance."
Beautiful reflective piece, capable of unleashing a gazillion other thoughts in my mind, as always. Thank you!
The menu of cognitive biases is even longer than your diner. Once I started looking into them, actually reading what each one is about, it put me off even attempting to escape their influence. My instinct is that you’re right, as a whole these biases serve a purpose and allow us to navigate our lives most usefully.
...one of the best two weeks of my life was spent 5AM-8AM at a greek diner in Mountain view sucking down coffee, eggs and potatos to avoid rush hour traffic for a contract job...reading a full newspaper each morning can really cool the brain...and something about the third sip of the fourth glass of caffeinated watery warmth brings me a smoky joy even as i sit here in the tv light of an Oakland morning just getting started...shoot, maybe i'll go to a diner today...
Curious to learn more context about the word “bias.” It’s a negative word: your tendency to see everything though a specific lens will distort you from some truth. Feels like the opposite is true too: certain lenses over-apples can be useful. Maybe the game isn’t to rid yourself of all bias, but to recursively become aware and shape your biases to steer you towards some target that’s also evolving.
And let me tell you that two hour drive was worth every minute!
This is exactly the first thought I had when I finished the Kahneman book. We can't avoid biases, and whoever claims the contrary, probably has a cognitive bias bias (as you awesomely wrote). And so I thought what's the use of knowing all this stuff (and getting a Nobel Prize on it btw), if it's part of us anyway and we can't get rid of it? We always had them even when we didn't know we had them, before all the behavioral psychology studies that flooded science over the last 2-3 decades. So, my question is (and has been for a while): do we really need to know these things? As you put it perfectly, "Life can't be conquered, piece by piece. It's more like a dance."
Beautiful reflective piece, capable of unleashing a gazillion other thoughts in my mind, as always. Thank you!
I assume we evolved our cognitive biases because they increased our chances of survival most of the time!
The menu of cognitive biases is even longer than your diner. Once I started looking into them, actually reading what each one is about, it put me off even attempting to escape their influence. My instinct is that you’re right, as a whole these biases serve a purpose and allow us to navigate our lives most usefully.
...one of the best two weeks of my life was spent 5AM-8AM at a greek diner in Mountain view sucking down coffee, eggs and potatos to avoid rush hour traffic for a contract job...reading a full newspaper each morning can really cool the brain...and something about the third sip of the fourth glass of caffeinated watery warmth brings me a smoky joy even as i sit here in the tv light of an Oakland morning just getting started...shoot, maybe i'll go to a diner today...
Curious to learn more context about the word “bias.” It’s a negative word: your tendency to see everything though a specific lens will distort you from some truth. Feels like the opposite is true too: certain lenses over-apples can be useful. Maybe the game isn’t to rid yourself of all bias, but to recursively become aware and shape your biases to steer you towards some target that’s also evolving.
I love a shitty diner for people watching.
Sounds like Canter's Delicatessen on North Fairfax--a favourite for all the same reasons!
I think you make good points, but are missing a key interpretation of the concept. Here’s my response:
https://open.substack.com/pub/theapocalypse/p/check-yourself-before-you-wreck-yourself