Why We Confuse The Onion for the News
Most of us are aware that we have biases, but we believe that we can avoid the effects of our biases by some combination of self-awareness, open-mindedness, education, and intelligence. Let’s face it, the chumps who fell for the scenarios I listed above were probably uneducated, white, conservative, Christians who just believe whatever fits their agenda. If they were educated and open-minded about other beliefs, they wouldn’t be so blind to their own biases, we think to ourselves.
Except that a study published in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology has shown that cognitive ability and thinking disposition do not decrease our biases, and may in fact increase our susceptibility to biases. Past studies have also shown that education doesn’t seem to solve the problem either. Despite our intelligence, our open-mindedness, our self-awareness, and our education, humans are prone to Cognitive Biases. We think we have a problem or situation figured out, when in reality a basic error in thinking has blinded us to reality.
Study: What You Would Be Doing If You Spent Less Time Online
Even so, this computer time has a notable impact, eating into things like sleep, work, travel, and household chores. For every minute that they spend lazing on the computer, Americans spend approximately 16 fewer seconds working, seven fewer seconds sleeping, six fewer seconds traveling, four fewer seconds doing household chores, and three fewer seconds educating themselves. Although Wallsten can’t prove that more computer time causes less sleep, for instance, he concludes, “that online activities, even when free from monetary transactions, are not free from opportunity cost.”
The results? Convincing students that they could make themselves smarter by hard work led them to work harder and get higher grades. The intervention had the biggest effect for students who started out believing intelligence was genetic. (A control group, who were taught how memory works, showed no such gains.)
What to do when a meeting goes on too long. Some practical biblical wisdom
[Excellent advice on how to escape a protracted meeting – Tim]
Men: 4 quick tips for better selfies
[Not just for men. Anybody wanting to take a “selfie” needs to read these tips – Tim]