cognitive biases

October 23, 2009 2:52 PM

Cognitive Biases - better list than Wikipedia? I have encountered a few more than mentioned at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases Are there many more or these biases? Please point me in the right direction. THX BB
posted by bright77blue to religion & philosophy (13 comments total)

At the risk of saying something obvious, Wikipedia is user-editable. If you've encountered other cognitive biases that aren't listed there, you would do all Wikipedia users a favor by adding them.
posted by box at 3:22 PM on October 23

At the risk of saying something else obvious, the Wikipedia entry includes a list of related items like 'List of fallacies' and 'List of memory biases.' Perhaps some of the things you're thinking of are listed under those categories.
posted by box at 3:32 PM on October 23

Indeed. Wikipedia can be edited - but perhaps I am too modest to add my observations.
posted by bright77blue at 3:44 PM on October 23

I think you should go ahead and it the wikipedia article bright77blue, after all maybe the other biases you have found have been added to the article before and then removed? If the community doesn't agree with you that they should be included then they won't last long.

And surely undue modesty must also be a form of cognitive bias? :-)
posted by ruperto at 4:09 PM on October 23

*edit
posted by ruperto at 4:09 PM on October 23

Thank you for you answer. I have added 3 'new' biases on Wiki, but it was promptly deleted.

@ruperto - I enjoy your sense of humor. Big smile here in Toronto.

I am modest not because my perceptions are possibly wrong, but because it they might not be defined/documented.
My thoughts for the day.

;-)
posted by bright77blue at 5:06 PM on October 23

Were these your 'new' biases, b77b?

# Complete Understanding Bias - the compulsion to decide only when "everything is known". Being very uncomfortable in making a decision unless everything is known. Possible or not.
# Doormat Hammer - the belief that action or reaction can only be complete submission or complete domination.
# Background is special - a belief of superior understanding or knowledge as part of one's culture, colour, or education. i.e. I am white, no black person can be smarter than me"

While I think the phrase 'doormat hammer' is pretty catchy, I think that your first bias is pretty close to information bias, and your third to ingroup bias, both of which are listed on the Wikipedia page already.
posted by box at 5:33 PM on October 23

Yes they were. Thank you for the feedback. Quite frankly I wanted feedback like you provided before making a fool of myself on Wiki.
posted by bright77blue at 5:55 PM on October 23

Sure thing.

While I'm at it, your 'doormat hammer' seems like a symptom of binary thinking/false dilemma/something like that (jargon-heavy articles).

And I wouldn't worry too much, or take it personally, that your Wikipedia edits were reverted. It happens a hundred times a day. If you'd like your next edits to stick around longer, it might be worthwhile to spend some time hanging around the site to get a better idea of how things work around there. I'm no expert, but these pages might be a good place to start.
posted by box at 6:10 PM on October 23

I recommend picking up a copy of this anthology edited by Cass Sunstein, or perusing the archives of Overcoming Bias, if you want to delve more heavily into this area.
posted by Jaltcoh at 6:18 PM on October 23

Yeah this isn't exactly on-topic, but adding those to wikipedia is not how wikipedia is supposed to work -- they are kind of the definition of OR (original research), whereas wikipedia entries are supposed to be well-sourced from third parties. Not that they always are, but the presence of other inappropriate content doesn't exempt your inappropriate content...
posted by brainmouse at 7:31 PM on October 23

Hi Everyone

Thank you for the answers. @jalcoh - I will have a look at your recommendations.

@brainmouse - thank you. Now that I think of it, it makes sense - it would be wrong for wiki to have non sourced ideas. The last thing we need is some oddball with goofy ideas. (I mean that sincerely, not sarcastically)

Perhaps (thinking out loud) there is an almost infinite number of biases. Who knows, perhaps my own behavior will prompt someone to add a new one.

Let's stay curious and treasure the ability to laugh at ourselves sometimes.

BB
posted by bright77blue at 8:40 PM on October 23

I have always found the Malinowski's "errors in criminal thinking" to be a pretty good list cognitive bias's that applies to most people to some degree, not just criminals
posted by psycho-alchemy at 11:48 PM on October 23