Scientific Definition
Systematic deviations from rationality in judgment.
Plain-English Definition
Systematic deviations from rationality in judgment.
Feynman Explanation
Biases aren't bugs in thinking — they're features that misfire.
Core Principle
Systematic deviations from rationality in judgment.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Systematic deviations from rationality in judgment.
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Decision systems either account for bias or are corrupted by it.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Biases aren't bugs in thinking — they're features that misfire.
Examples
- Recency, anchoring, availability — operating below the level of awareness.
- Decision systems either account for bias or are corrupted by it.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Build process — not willpower — to counter known biases.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
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The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Build process — not willpower — to counter known biases.
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.
The brain evolved to reason adaptively, not always truthfully, to reduce the cost of errors.
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.
Psychological stress from holding contradictory beliefs; usually resolved by changing the easier one.
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.