Why Do Smart People Make Stupid Decisions?

We’ve all been there. We knew it was a stupid decision but we made it anyway.

Does this mean that we are indeed stupid? Nope. It simply means that our decisions are not all rational. They are, instead, a result of our inherent cognitive biases.

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A cognitive bias refers to the systematic pattern of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment. These biases cause conclusions, inferences, assumptions about people and situations to be drawn in a less than logical fashion. We all create our own “subjective social reality” from our perception of the input we receive — both from outside of us and inside of us.

How can we stop making stupid decisions and start making smart ones? By spending time understanding our cognitive biases.