Top 10 Common Faults in Human Thought:
Ever think how different your life would be if you’d taken different subjects? Like if I’d taken biology rather than modern studies, I could be studying Medicine right now… or if I’d taken physics rather than French I could be doing Engineering… or even if I’d opted for Psychology over Law then I could be learning about this stuff every day. It’s interesting:
- Gambler’s Fallacy - The Gambler’s fallacy is the tendency to think that future probabilities are altered by past events, when in reality, they are not.
- Reactivity - Reactivity is the tendency of people to act or appear differently when they know that they are being observed.
- Pareidolia - Pareidolia is when random images or sounds are perceived as significant.
- Self-fulfilling prophecy - Self-fulfilling prophecy is engaging in behaviors that obtain results that confirm existing attitudes
- The Halo effect - The Halo effect is the tendency for an individual’s positive or negative trait to “spill over” to other areas of their personality in others’ perceptions of them.
- Herd mentality - Herd mentality is the tendency to adopt the opinions and follow the behaviors of the majority to feel safer and to avoid conflict.
- Reactance - Reactance is the urge to do the opposite of what someone wants you to do out of a need to resist a perceived attempt to constrain your freedom of choice.
- Hyperbolic discounting - Hyperbolic discounting is the tendency for people to prefer a smaller, immediate payoff over a larger, delayed payoff.*
- Escalation of commitment - Escalation of commitment is the tendency for people to continue to support previously unsuccessful endeavors.
- The Placebo effect - The Placebo effect is when an ineffectual substance that is believed to have healing properties produces the desired effect.
*I found this particularly interesting after someone at church spoke last week about Luke 18:18-24:
“A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’” “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.”
The speaker then followed this up by pointing out the difference between the rich man’s unwillingness to give up his earthly wealth for eternal riches, whereas Jesus loved us enough to don an earthly body in the first place, and suffer an excruciating death, in order that he might rise again and allow us entry into heaven.
An interesting juxtaposition, n’est-ce pas?
Via wrong blog
