We tend to think that our brain is a perfect machine, but the truth is that it is not. It makes many mistakes and we do not even notice them. Our mind is full of stereotypes and beliefs, which influence the way we understand and live the present. These past experiences end up becoming a prison that limits us and causes us to make mistakes.
The good news is that if we pay attention to these patterns, we can avoid many of the mistakes our brains make every day.
1. You prefer to maintain comfort rather than pursue your dreams
Are you one of those people who continues to watch a movie, even if you don’t like it, just because you paid for the ticket? Most of us decide to stay in the theater, even if we don’t enjoy the movie, instead of going out and doing something more enjoyable. Why? Simply because we want the money we spent to be worth it.
This example shows that we have a natural tendency to avoid threats rather than maximise opportunities because this way we are more likely to survive. This tendency has been passed down through generations, imprinting itself in our brains, so that we prefer to minimise losses rather than maximise opportunities.
One way to escape this tendency is to ask ourselves what we really want to do, what brings us true satisfaction or happiness.
2. You tilt the odds in your favor, despite the math
Imagine this situation: you flip a coin, which has a 50/50 chance of landing heads or tails. Let’s say that for the last 25 consecutive times it has landed tails. Surely, the next time you flip the coin it will land heads. Right?
In reality, this is not the case. There is still a 50/50 chance of landing heads or tails. The last 25 times do not affect the odds. However, despite this, we have an irrational belief that the odds change due to past results. This is why many people always bet on the same number.
The solution to this irrational belief is very simple: don’t get carried away by the emotion of the moment, breathe and reflect.
3. You pay more attention to data that reinforces your beliefs
Have you ever noticed that as soon as you buy a new car or a new dress, you see it everywhere? Of course, it’s not that all of a sudden everyone has decided to buy the same item, but that you notice it more. This is because our brain searches for information that serves to confirm reality or existing beliefs.
In the field of Psychology, this phenomenon is known as “confirmation bias” and refers to our tendency to pay attention to data that confirms what we already know and to ignore or avoid information that may generate a conflict in our belief system.
The best way to combat cognitive biases is to recognize them and consciously decide to explore other points of view, the further away from our own, the better.
4. You convince yourself that your bad decisions are good ones
You walk into a store, fall in love with a pair of shoes or a bag, and buy it. However, as soon as you get home, you start to feel remorse because you know that you didn’t really need it and that the expense was considerable. However, you immediately look for reasons that support your decision, that make you feel good. This is what is known as cognitive dissonance.
This phenomenon occurs when two opposing ideas pass through our minds that we cannot deal with. Then our brain chooses the one that is most convenient to maintain our emotional balance, the one that disturbs us the least, even if it means changing reality a little.
To deal with this error we must be aware of our tendency to rationalize bad decisions. It is also important that we accept that a bad decision does not make us bad people.
5. You confuse selection criteria with results
Do you think that universities like Harvard produce brilliant professionals? Do you think that people who advertise slimming products are thin because they use them? Do you think that actresses have perfect skin because they use the anti-aging creams they promote? If your answer is yes, you are probably confusing the selection criteria with the results.
Let’s take the example of the most famous universities. These have very strict selection criteria, thanks to which they only allow really brilliant students to enter. So, it is true that their curriculum may be good, but the students were already excellent. The same goes for the people who appear in the advertisements; they are not beautiful and thin because they use the product, but because they were already so before.
This is a very important mistake, perhaps one of the most important of all those we make every day, because the fact of wrongly attributing success also implies that we will follow the wrong path to achieve it. To escape this bias we must learn to read beyond the direct messages that are constantly sent to us and ask ourselves what is beyond what we see.
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