Scientific Definition
The brain evolved to reason adaptively, not always truthfully, to reduce the cost of errors.
Plain-English Definition
The brain evolved to reason adaptively, not always truthfully, to reduce the cost of errors.
Feynman Explanation
Beliefs are fitness tools, not truth detectors.
Core Principle
The brain evolved to reason adaptively, not always truthfully, to reduce the cost of errors.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
The brain evolved to reason adaptively, not always truthfully, to reduce the cost of errors.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Risk assessments swing with recent headlines rather than base rates.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Beliefs are fitness tools, not truth detectors.
Examples
- Overestimating risks after a recent scare, even when the data is unchanged.
- Risk assessments swing with recent headlines rather than base rates.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Anchor forecasts to long-term data before discussing recent events.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Anchor forecasts to long-term data before discussing recent events.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
We solve problems by adding, even when subtracting would be better.
Researchers favor conclusions aligned with their school, team, or sponsor.
Relying on examples that come to mind easily, not on actual frequency.
Systematic deviations from rationality in judgment.
Treating multiple data points as independent when they came from one source.
Testing hypotheses only by looking for confirming evidence.
Applying higher scrutiny to evidence we disagree with than to evidence we agree with.
Over-weighting one's own perspective when reconstructing events.
Mind latches onto the first plausible explanation and resists alternatives.
Research outcomes tend to favor the interests of the funders.
Deriving general rules from specific examples; the leap from instance to concept.
Assuming that if one option is true, another must be false, when both can be true.