Our brain lies to us: 50 ways to recognize these lies, which Elon Musk suggests teaching children

When we need to make a decision quickly, our brain uses shortcuts - cognitive biases. On Twitter, Elon Musk shared 50 cognitive distortions that are good to know from childhood. The publications collected more than 65 thousand reposts and more than 320 thousand likes, reports MC.today.

Photo: Shutterstock

In the past, these thinking labels helped people survive. But now life looks different, and they often interfere and force us to do something that we don’t really want to do.

On the subject: Elon Musk promised to introduce the first chip into the human brain next year

Here are 50 important things Musk suggests teaching kids.

1. We judge others by what we know about their character, and we judge ourselves by the situation. If a person is late for work, traffic jams are to blame, if his colleague is simply irresponsible.

2. When something goes well, people praise their ability and effort. And if not, external factors scold. When a person does well in an interview, he is great. And if it didn’t pass, bad recruiters are to blame.

3. We are more likely to be on the side of loved ones. People are more likely to take the side of a friend rather than his enemy, even if the latter is right.

4. We trust what people around us like. People will buy a product of a certain brand if it is talked about a lot in their environment.

5. We often make strange decisions to avoid conflict. If colleagues have developed a very controversial advertising campaign and everyone likes it, except for one employee, he would rather remain silent than quarrel with the team.

6. If you see a positive trait in a person, his other traits will also seem positive. A smiling and friendly employee is often considered a good specialist. Of course, this is not always the case. It works the same way with negative qualities.

7. We evaluate what a person does by the result. When someone risks everything and mortgages an apartment for the sake of business, people expect what will come of it. If the business grows and grows stronger, they will praise for courage, if it burns out, they will consider it stupid.

8. We feel like we do what everyone else does. A person constantly works until night, because he believes that it is customary. But in fact, only a few of his colleagues do this.

9. If we learn something, it seems to us that everyone else knows it too. A person can communicate with a new employee of the company as if he has been working in it for many years and knows all the nuances.

10. People don't pay as much attention to how we look. Yes, and for what we do. It seems to a person that everyone is looking at the speck on the shirt, but in fact only a few notice it. And they don't care at all.

11. We forget about some situations until something reminds us of them.. For example, we are more afraid of getting into an accident when we suddenly see an overturned car on the side of the road.

12. We explain to ourselves other people's actions by what we expect from a person. Let's say a person is late for a meeting with us. If he is always late, we think he is irresponsible. And if he always arrives on time, we begin to worry that something has happened.

13. We believe the world is fair. And if something is unfair, then it is deserved. People often justify violence or discrimination on the grounds that the victim provoked the behavior.

14. We believe that we perceive everything objectively. And others simply do not understand or are biased towards the situation. All people are divided into two categories: those who are blowing, and those who are stuffy.

15. We expect the other person to be more selfish than they really are. People think that the main goal of the boss is to make more money. Although in reality he wants the team to work better and easier.

16. We believe what is said about our personality when it actually applies to a wide range of people. People love horoscopes and easily find their features in the general characteristics of the sign.

17. The less you know, the more confident you feel. And vice versa. Launching advertising on social networks seems simple - I wrote the text, paid for it, launched it. But the deeper you dive into the topic, the more complex it becomes and the more nuances are revealed.

18. When we make decisions, we rely on the first information that catches our eye. A charity sends out two identical letters asking for a donation. In one letter they indicated as an example $5, in another - $50. The average donation of recipients of the second letter will be higher.

19. We rely too much on automated systems. A person can drive on the wrong Google Maps route even if they actually know they can't drive there.

20. We forget information that is easy to find in gadgets. Do you remember the phone numbers of your relatives?

21. If we feel that our freedom is limited, we do the opposite. If a teenager has too strict parents, he will not do what he is asked, even if he himself would be better for it.

22. We seek and remember information that matches our ideas. A person who believes the earth is flat does not believe the arguments that it is round. And in all beliefs he sees lies and forgery.

23. When we are faced with something we don't believe in, we ignore it. The business owner is sure that his product is cool, so he does not pay attention to negative customer reviews.

24. People believe that mass culture affects other people, but not themselves. If a person likes other political forces, we accuse him of being led by propaganda.

25. When something seems plausible to us, it is difficult to convince us otherwise. If a person himself is sure that gluten is harmful, he will not believe either articles or doctors.

26. We believe collective beliefs more when they are repeated in public. People who watch a lot of TV trust channels that constantly broadcast the same messages.

27. We romanticize the past and do not expect anything good from the future. Older people say that young people used to be better, although they did the same.

28. We want everything to stay the same. This is familiar to any manager who has tried to introduce a new system of work. Employees resist, even if the new will make their job easier.

29. We invest more in things that cost us something.. Even if it didn't work out so well last time. Many investors continue to invest in assets, even if they fall for a long time and do not generate income.

30. We think that the future depends on past events. When a person in a casino has several bad combinations, he begins to believe that the next time the winning one should fall out.

31. We want to reduce risk to zero. And sometimes we even refuse something, although there are other options for how to solve the problem. People are afraid of being harmed by chemicals. They don't care if it's 1% risk or 99% risk, they want no chemicals at all. Although in general, these chemicals can protect against many other problems and diseases.

32. We draw different conclusions from the same information depending on how it is presented.. Is the glass half full or half empty? In the first case, the feed is positive, in the second it is negative, but the information is the same.

33. We draw conclusions about a person only by some of his characteristics. Even if we don't know anything about him. HR may not hire a young girl because they think that she will quickly get married and go on maternity leave.

34. We like to generalize. There are many specialists in the IT field, they do completely different things. But for people far from the industry, they are all “programmers”.

35. We are influenced by opinion leaders. People will trust a blogger with millions of views more than a doctor with an education.

36. If we believe that the treatment will work, we will see the effect faster. If you give a person a vitamin and say that it is a painkiller, his head will stop hurting. This is called the "placebo effect".

37. We focus on the experience of the winners and do not pay attention to those who have failed. A person looks at dozens of successful entrepreneurs and does not notice thousands of people who have not succeeded in their business, although their experience is very important.

38. Our perception of time is changing. This can be affected by physical activity, injury, alcohol and other substances. For example, a minute never lasts as long as when you are in a plank position.

39. We get stuck on simple questions when we want to avoid more complex ones. When people discuss renovations, they can argue for hours about the color of the wallpaper, forgetting to discuss the quality and location of the wiring.

40. We remember incomplete tasks better. It can be difficult for people to remember their achievements - the brain forgets that you have already closed 10 projects, but remembers the three that you never did.

41. We really appreciate things that we partially created ourselves. For example, a table that a person made with his own hands, he appreciates more than a table from a store.

42. We like doing favors. If we have already helped a person, we will help him again. A person who once lent his car to a friend is likely to do it again.

43. The more people around, the less likely we are to help the victim. Many crimes were committed in front of dozens of people. None of them called the police. Everyone was waiting for someone else to do it.

44. Sometimes we begin to believe in something that was not there.. This is what children often do. If you tell a person in colors how he walked at a party 10 years ago, he can literally begin to remember this party, even if he was not there.

45. We mistake imagination for real memories.. A person can vividly remember how he played with a Barbie doll as a child, even if he never had one.

46. ​​We perceive information in a new way, which we have already forgotten. For example, a person appropriates a joke that he, in fact, read somewhere a long time ago.

47. We see patterns in random occurrences.. A person who plays roulette bets on red, because before that, red has fallen several times in a row.

48. Sometimes we worry too much about bad results.. For example, a person may not even take on a project because he is sure that he will not succeed.

49. Sometimes we are too optimistic when we expect good results. A person is sure that he will get to work in 15 minutes, although this is possible only in ideal conditions - there are no traffic jams, the bus arrived quickly and nothing delayed him.

50. We don't consider ourselves biased. And we count others. Some pharmaceutical companies give gifts to doctors. When doctors prescribe drugs to patients, they often unconsciously choose the drugs from the very companies that gave them the gift. But not all doctors are ready to admit it.

Why is it important to teach children

These cognitive biases show that the first reaction is not always to be trusted. In many situations, it is better to slow down and think about whether this decision will be right and whether the person’s brain is deceiving him.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York.

It's good to know that the psyche can change perception like this. It helps develop critical thinking from childhood. According to Elon Musk, it will help people "become the best version of themselves."

Read also on ForumDaily:

Salary in the USA: new laws have deprived employers of the opportunity to ask the most tricky interview question

Instructions: How to remove personal information from Google

What geniuses read: 25 books recommended by Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Bill Gates

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.