Your 99 Thinking Flaws!
"The Art of Thinking Clearly" illustrated - Final part!
99 Cognitive Biases!
This long journey through the book “The Art of Thinking Clearly” is now coming to an end.
I started this series before this newsletter even existed! At that time -two years ago- I had challenged myself to draw daily for a year, and 99 biases looked like a great way to get drawing inspiration😄! I ended up taking a big break to illustrate “Antifragile in 60 drawings” before finally restarting this year.
Thank you for your readership all this months, it has been a good motivation to keep learning and drawing!
You can find all the previous post of the series below:
And now the last cognitive biases:
Overthinking
Getting stuck in your own thinking, or over-analyzing can lead to worse outcomes than the simplicity of your natural emotional response.
Planning fallacy
We easily underestimate costs, risks and inflate benefits when planning. For large projects, we can try to avoid it by:
- Splitting them in smaller meaningful chunks,
- Thinking deeply about the approach, (comparing with similar projects, selecting experienced people on that specific area)
- Act fast on new information
- Be wary of sunk cost
Déformation professionnelle
“If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.” Abraham Maslow.
Experts tend to use their specific skills to solve problems, even if it's not the best way.
Zeigarnik effect
We remember incomplete or interrupted tasks better than completed ones, we have a deep need to finish what was started.
Illusion of skill
We mistakenly believe that success is primarily due to abilities, underestimating the significant impact of luck, and the many domain where having skill alone is not enough.
Feature-positive effect
We are more likely to notice and remember the presence of a feature or stimulus rather than its absence.
Cherry picking
We cherry-pick when we select data or evidence that supports a particular conclusion while ignoring data that contradicts it, leading to a biased or misleading interpretation.
Fallacy of the single cause
Assuming that a complex issue or event has one primary cause, while other contributing factors are ignored or downplayed. This simplification often leads to the unfair blaming of one person, group, or factor, and overlooks the multifaceted nature of most real-world problems.
Intention-to-treat error
The intention-to-treat error originated in clinical trials, it happens when participants are not analyzed in their original groups, often due to non-compliance or dropouts, leading to biased results. (e.g. False positive).
Although including non-compliant participants can also cause issues, preserving initial group assignments is generally preferred to maintain the benefits of randomization.
News illusion
The news illusion is the belief that consuming more news leads to a better understanding of the world, while in reality, it can result in a distorted view due to sensationalism, bias, and the focus on negative or dramatic stories.
The author stopped to follow the news, and suggest to focus on books which can help us go a step deeper. Any important information would still find a way to him via is network of friends.
And that’s it my friends, we have covered the all book. I hope you enjoyed it!
Let me know your thoughts in the comments 🙂.
What’s next?
I’m really looking forward sharing with you the next book: “Creativity Inc.” by Ed Catmull, the former CEO of Pixar.
The books talk about how to keep an organization creative and productive, and also tell the story of how Pixar came to be, the troubled relationship with Steve Jobs and the other challenges they faced over the years.
Something new this time —> I’m creating animated illustration! (GIFs)
I haven’t finished the full book yet, but will already be able to share with you what I have so far.
See you soon!
Lud.