Comments on: “The 12 cognitive biases that prevent you from being rational” https://habitablezone.com/2016/05/19/the-12-cognitive-biases-that-prevent-you-from-being-rational/ Fri, 10 Apr 2026 03:45:24 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2016/05/19/the-12-cognitive-biases-that-prevent-you-from-being-rational/#comment-36623 ER Fri, 20 May 2016 12:55:12 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=57781#comment-36623 We tend to select an option that favors us personally, rather than one which is better for us all as a group. I don't mean to imply greed or selfishness, (although that certainly exists too!) just that we feel that those choices which are beneficial or suitable for us will automatically be better for everyone else because they will make it easier for us to serve others. So, for example, if you are a grocer, you will tend to find reasons to believe laws and regulations that are beneficial to grocers are also best for everybody, and those that inconvenience grocers (such as very strict health regs and weights and measures rules) are overly expensive, unnecessary and inconvenient and will be bad for the community as a whole by raising prices and restricting trade. OTOH, when that same grocer fuels his car, he demands the State inspect the gas pumps rigorously and frequently and punish severely those who refuse to keep them honest. And you don't actually have to be a grocer to feel this way. If you want to be a grocer, if you really like grocers, or if your Dad was a grocer, or if you feel your own business is a lot like the grocery business, you will be more likely to side with the grocers in these matters. We tend to select an option that favors us personally, rather than one which is better for us all as a group. I don’t mean to imply greed or selfishness, (although that certainly exists too!) just that we feel that those choices which are beneficial or suitable for us will automatically be better for everyone else because they will make it easier for us to serve others.

So, for example, if you are a grocer, you will tend to find reasons to believe laws and regulations that are beneficial to grocers are also best for everybody, and those that inconvenience grocers (such as very strict health regs and weights and measures rules) are overly expensive, unnecessary and inconvenient and will be bad for the community as a whole by raising prices and restricting trade. OTOH, when that same grocer fuels his car, he demands the State inspect the gas pumps rigorously and frequently and punish severely those who refuse to keep them honest.

And you don’t actually have to be a grocer to feel this way. If you want to be a grocer, if you really like grocers, or if your Dad was a grocer, or if you feel your own business is a lot like the grocery business, you will be more likely to side with the grocers in these matters.

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