Podcast
Questions and Answers
What is a primary reason our brains filter out most information?
What is a primary reason our brains filter out most information?
- To improve multitasking abilities
- To enhance creativity
- To avoid information overload (correct)
- To increase sensory input
Why does the brain prioritize certain pieces of information?
Why does the brain prioritize certain pieces of information?
- Because that information is likely to be useful (correct)
- To make things harder to remember
- To confuse us
- Because all information is equally important
Which factor contributes to the necessity of filtering information?
Which factor contributes to the necessity of filtering information?
- An increase in mental capacity
- A surplus of complex information (correct)
- A lack of sensory input
- A desire to be ignorant
What simple trick does the brain use to filter information?
What simple trick does the brain use to filter information?
According to the material, acting fast requires:
According to the material, acting fast requires:
Information is filtered to help with what aspect of memory?
Information is filtered to help with what aspect of memory?
A symptom of having too much unfiltered information is:
A symptom of having too much unfiltered information is:
What is a consequence of failing to filter out irrelevant information?
What is a consequence of failing to filter out irrelevant information?
What simple trick does our brain use to filter info?
What simple trick does our brain use to filter info?
Why is filtering information useful?
Why is filtering information useful?
What is a primary reason for filtering information?
What is a primary reason for filtering information?
How does the brain decide what information to prioritize?
How does the brain decide what information to prioritize?
What does the brain tend to notice first?
What does the brain tend to notice first?
What is a simple way the brain filters information?
What is a simple way the brain filters information?
Why is it important to filter out information?
Why is it important to filter out information?
What kind of information is likely to be noticed?
What kind of information is likely to be noticed?
Why does the brain prioritize information already in memory?
Why does the brain prioritize information already in memory?
What is the impact of having too much information?
What is the impact of having too much information?
Why is filtering essential in a world with abundant information?
Why is filtering essential in a world with abundant information?
What memory concept relates to noticing things primed in memory?
What memory concept relates to noticing things primed in memory?
What is a common characteristic of information that captures our attention?
What is a common characteristic of information that captures our attention?
Why do our brains tend to skip over ordinary information?
Why do our brains tend to skip over ordinary information?
What type of information is more likely to be noticed by the brain?
What type of information is more likely to be noticed by the brain?
Why do we weigh the direction of change (positive or negative) more than the actual new value?
Why do we weigh the direction of change (positive or negative) more than the actual new value?
What is a common bias we tend to exhibit when evaluating ourselves and others?
What is a common bias we tend to exhibit when evaluating ourselves and others?
What does the brain do with the reduced stream of information it receives?
What does the brain do with the reduced stream of information it receives?
What is the purpose of updating our mental models of the world?
What is the purpose of updating our mental models of the world?
What kind of things stand out more than unfunny ones?
What kind of things stand out more than unfunny ones?
What do our brains do to the importance of things that are unusual or surprising?
What do our brains do to the importance of things that are unusual or surprising?
What do we tend to skip over?
What do we tend to skip over?
What is a key reason our brains filter out a lot of information?
What is a key reason our brains filter out a lot of information?
What does the brain use for selecting useful information?
What does the brain use for selecting useful information?
When we have incomplete information the brain fills in the gaps with?
When we have incomplete information the brain fills in the gaps with?
What do we often forget when our brain fills in gaps in information?
What do we often forget when our brain fills in gaps in information?
How do we tend to view people we like?
How do we tend to view people we like?
What is one way our brains simplify probabilities and numbers?
What is one way our brains simplify probabilities and numbers?
What do we assume when we think we know what others are thinking?
What do we assume when we think we know what others are thinking?
What do we project onto the past and future?
What do we project onto the past and future?
What is essential for acting fast in uncertain situations?
What is essential for acting fast in uncertain situations?
What do we tend to favor when focusing on something?
What do we tend to favor when focusing on something?
What motivates us to complete tasks we've invested time in?
What motivates us to complete tasks we've invested time in?
What do we try to preserve when making decisions?
What do we try to preserve when making decisions?
What kind of options do we favor?
What kind of options do we favor?
What do we need to do with information to use it in the future?
What do we need to do with information to use it in the future?
What happens to memories after the fact?
What happens to memories after the fact?
What do we discard to form generalities?
What do we discard to form generalities?
What do we pick out to represent the whole?
What do we pick out to represent the whole?
How does the brain encode information?
How does the brain encode information?
What is the purpose of understanding our cognitive biases?
What is the purpose of understanding our cognitive biases?
What does the brain use to reconstruct the world?
What does the brain use to reconstruct the world?
What is a common way our brains fill in gaps in information?
What is a common way our brains fill in gaps in information?
What happens after the brain fills in missing information?
What happens after the brain fills in missing information?
How do we generally perceive things that we are fond of?
How do we generally perceive things that we are fond of?
Why do we simplify numbers and probabilities?
Why do we simplify numbers and probabilities?
What is a common assumption we make about what other people are thinking?
What is a common assumption we make about what other people are thinking?
What do we often project onto our understanding of the past and future?
What do we often project onto our understanding of the past and future?
Why is the ability to act fast important?
Why is the ability to act fast important?
What motivates us to complete tasks we've already started?
What motivates us to complete tasks we've already started?
What is a key motivation in our decision-making to avoid mistakes?
What is a key motivation in our decision-making to avoid mistakes?
What kind of options do we generally prefer?
What kind of options do we generally prefer?
Why do we need to constantly make bets and trade-offs around what we remember and forget?
Why do we need to constantly make bets and trade-offs around what we remember and forget?
What happens to memories during the recall process?
What happens to memories during the recall process?
Why do we discard specific details to form generalities?
Why do we discard specific details to form generalities?
What do we often pick out to represent a whole event or list?
What do we often pick out to represent a whole event or list?
How does the way we experience memories affect how they are stored?
How does the way we experience memories affect how they are stored?
What is important to remember about cognitive biases?
What is important to remember about cognitive biases?
If the brain deems new experiences/information unimportant at the time, what may happen?
If the brain deems new experiences/information unimportant at the time, what may happen?
What is the likely result of implicit associations, stereotypes, and prejudice?
What is the likely result of implicit associations, stereotypes, and prejudice?
Why are cognitive biases particularly essential for humans?
Why are cognitive biases particularly essential for humans?
What is a direct effect of discarding specific details from an event or list?
What is a direct effect of discarding specific details from an event or list?
When focused and facing a lot of information, what might we relate to most?
When focused and facing a lot of information, what might we relate to most?
In situations with little certainty, what mindset is valuable?
In situations with little certainty, what mindset is valuable?
What can implicit stereotypes and prejudice often lead to?
What can implicit stereotypes and prejudice often lead to?
What does the brain often rely on with filling partial information?
What does the brain often rely on with filling partial information?
When attempting to preserve and avoid mistakes, what do we try to maintain?
When attempting to preserve and avoid mistakes, what do we try to maintain?
Without the ability to do what quickly, humans might have perished long ago?
Without the ability to do what quickly, humans might have perished long ago?
Why do we favor options that appear simple or have more detail?
Why do we favor options that appear simple or have more detail?
Flashcards
Information Overload
Information Overload
Filtering out most information due to an excess of data.
Brain's Filtering Trick
Brain's Filtering Trick
The brain prioritizes information that seems useful.
Information Processing Challenges
Information Processing Challenges
Acting quickly and deciding what to remember later amidst too much information.
Priming in Memory
Priming in Memory
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Frequency Illusion
Frequency Illusion
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Availability Heuristic
Availability Heuristic
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Mere Exposure Effect
Mere Exposure Effect
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Attentional Bias
Attentional Bias
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Bizarreness Effect
Bizarreness Effect
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Humor Effect
Humor Effect
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Bias Blind Spot
Bias Blind Spot
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Change Bias
Change Bias
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Sense-Making
Sense-Making
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Directional Change Bias
Directional Change Bias
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Filling-in Characteristics
Filling-in Characteristics
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Favoring Familiarity
Favoring Familiarity
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Simplifying Probabilities
Simplifying Probabilities
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Assuming Shared Thoughts
Assuming Shared Thoughts
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Projecting Mindset
Projecting Mindset
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Acting Despite Uncertainty
Acting Despite Uncertainty
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Favoring the Immediate
Favoring the Immediate
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Continuing Current Investments
Continuing Current Investments
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Avoiding Irreversible Consequences
Avoiding Irreversible Consequences
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Choosing Simplicity
Choosing Simplicity
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Discarding Specifics
Discarding Specifics
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Editing Memories
Editing Memories
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Stored Memories Differently
Stored Memories Differently
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Study Notes
- Information overload forces the brain to filter almost all information.
- The brain uses simple methods to identify and prioritize potentially useful information.
- Filtering is influenced by information overload, lack of meaning, the need for rapid decision-making, and determining what to retain.
- The brain notices information already primed in memory or frequently repeated.
- Brains are more likely to notice information related to recently loaded memory content.
- Related concepts include availability heuristic, attentional bias, illusory truth effect, mere exposure effect, context effect, cue-dependent forgetting, mood-congruent memory bias, frequency illusion, Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon, and empathy gap.
- Elements that are bizarre, funny, visually striking, or anthropomorphic are more noticeable.
- Unusual or surprising information tends to be perceived as more important.
- Ordinary or expected information is often overlooked
- Related concepts include bizarreness effect, humor effect, Von Restorff effect, negativity bias, publication bias, and omission bias.
- Changes are easily noticed, and their significance is usually weighed by the direction of the change (positive or negative).
- Related concepts include anchoring, contrast effect, focusing effect, framing effect, Weber–Fechner law, and the distinction bias.
- Flaws are more easily noticed in others than in ourselves.
- Related concepts include confirmation bias, congruence bias, post-purchase rationalization, choice-supportive bias, selective perception, observer-expectancy effect, experimenter’s bias, observer effect, expectation bias, ostrich effect, subjective validation, continued influence effect, Semmelweis reflex, bucket error, and the law of narrative gravity.
- The world is confusing, leading to seeing only a small part of it.
- The reduced information stream is interpreted by connecting the dots, filling gaps, and updating mental models.
- Confabulation, clustering illusion, insensitivity to sample size, neglect of probability, anecdotal fallacy, illusion of validity, masked man fallacy, recency illusion, gambler’s fallacy, hot-hand fallacy, illusory correlation, pareidolia, and anthropomorphism are related to how the brain reconstructs the world to feel complete.
- When partial information is available, the brain fills in gaps with best guesses, forgetting which parts were real.
- Related concepts include group attribution error, ultimate attribution error, stereotyping, essentialism, functional fixedness, moral credential effect, just-world hypothesis, argument from fallacy, authority bias, automation bias, bandwagon effect, and placebo effect.
- Familiar or favored things and people are often imagined as better, with built-in assumptions about quality.
- Related concepts include halo effect, in-group bias, out-group homogeneity bias, cross-race effect, cheerleader effect, well-traveled road effect, not invented here, reactive devaluation, and positivity effect.
- Probabilities and numbers are simplified to make them easier to think about.
- Related concepts include mental accounting, normalcy bias, appeal to probability fallacy, base rate fallacy, Murphy’s law, Hofstadter’s law, subadditivity effect, survivorship bias, zero sum bias, denomination effect, magic number 7+-2, swimmer’s body illusion, and money illusion, conservatism.
- There is a tendency to believe one knows what others are thinking, modeling their minds after one's own.
- Related concepts include curse of knowledge, illusion of transparency, spotlight effect, streetlight effect, illusion of external agency, and illusion of asymmetric insight, extrinsic incentive error.
- Current mindsets and assumptions are projected onto the past and future, magnified by an inability to accurately imagine the pace of change.
- Related concepts include hindsight bias, outcome bias, moral luck, declinism, telescoping effect, rosy retrospection, impact bias, pessimism bias, planning fallacy, time-saving bias, pro-innovation bias, projection bias, restraint bias, and self-consistency bias.
- The need to act fast in the face of uncertainty requires confidence, often overconfidence, to assess situations, make decisions, and predict outcomes.
- Related concepts include overconfidence effect, egocentric bias, optimism bias, social desirability bias, third-person effect, Forer effect, Barnum effect, illusion of control, false consensus effect, Dunning-Kruger effect, hard-easy effect, illusory superiority, Lake Wobegone effect, self-serving bias, actor-observer bias, fundamental attribution error, defensive attribution hypothesis, trait ascription bias, effort justification, risk compensation, Peltzman effect, and armchair fallacy.
- Immediate, relatable things are favored over the delayed and distant.
- Related concepts include hyperbolic discounting, appeal to novelty, and identifiable victim effect.
- There is motivation to complete things already invested in, similar to Newton’s first law of motion.
- Related concepts include sunk cost fallacy, irrational escalation, escalation of commitment, loss aversion, IKEA effect, processing difficulty effect, generation effect, zero-risk bias, disposition effect, unit bias, pseudocertainty effect, and endowment effect, backfire effect.
- Preserving autonomy and status in a group, and avoiding irreversible decisions are key to avoiding mistakes.
- Related concepts include system justification, reactance, reverse psychology, decoy effect, social comparison bias, status quo bias, Abilene paradox, law of the instrument, law of the hammer, Maslow’s hammer, golden hammer, Chesterton’s fence, and hippo problem.
- Options that appear simple or have more complete information are favored over complex, ambiguous options.
- Related concepts include ambiguity bias, information bias, belief bias, rhyme as reason effect, bike-shedding effect, law of triviality, Delmore effect, conjunction fallacy, Occam’s razor, less-is-better effect, and Sapir-Whorf-Korzybski hypothesis.
- Generalizations are preferred over specifics because they take up less space, and a few standout items are saved while the rest are discarded.
- Memories are edited and reinforced, with details sometimes accidentally swapped or injected.
- Related concepts include misattribution of memory, source confusion, cryptomnesia, false memory, suggestibility, and spacing effect.
- Specifics are discarded to form generalities, but implicit associations, stereotypes, and prejudice can result in bad consequences.
- Events and lists are reduced to key elements, with a few items picked to represent the whole.
- Related concepts include peak–end rule, leveling and sharpening, misinformation effect, duration neglect, serial recall effect, list-length effect, modality effect, memory inhibition, part-list cueing effect, primacy effect, recency effect, and serial position effect, suffix effect.
- Related concepts include implicit associations, implicit stereotypes, stereotypical bias, and fading affect bias, prejudice.
- Memories are stored differently based on how they were experienced, with encoding affected by circumstances beyond the information's value.
- Related concepts include picture superiority effect, levels of processing effect, testing effect, absent-mindedness, next-in-line effect, tip of the tongue phenomenon, Google effect, and self-relevance effect.
- The use of the availability heuristic (specifically, the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon) can increase the awareness of biases.
- The spacing effect can help underline thought patterns, keeping the bias blind spot and naïve realism in check.
- Accepting that we are permanently biased, but that there’s room for improvement, confirmation bias will help find evidence that supports this, which will ultimately lead to better understanding ourselves.
- Cognitive biases are tools that are useful in the right contexts, and harmful in others.
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