By Priyanka Joshi, Student, Banasthali Vidyapith
Have you ever wondered why you clicked ‘buy’ on something you didn’t need? Or why, when something goes wrong, the first words out of your mouth are “I knew that would happen”?
We live in a world where everybody is trying to outrun time, constantly seeking shortcuts to get ahead. Our minds are no exception.
Cognitive bias is when your brain guesses something without checking if it’s true, just to save time. And sometimes, those guesses are wrong.
Imagine your brain is wearing funhouse glasses—those silly ones that make everything look wobbly or huge or tiny. A cognitive bias is when your brain makes decisions based on that weird view and not the real view.
We tend to believe that our brains are like computers. They use raw data to make logical decisions. But this very thought is shaped by several cognitive biases.
First, there’s overconfidence bias—the tendency to overestimate our ability to think clearly and make sound judgments.
Then comes naïve realism, the belief that our perception of the world reflects it exactly as it is, unbiased and unfiltered. And finally, there’s confirmation bias, which makes us seek out information that supports our personal beliefs instead of contradicting them.
In reality, our brains aren’t flawless. They are not rational and logical machines. They’re quick, yes, but not always accurate.
What Are Cognitive Biases?
A cognitive bias is a systematic error in thinking that occurs when people process and interpret information in their surroundings, influencing their decisions and judgments. It’s your brain’s way to create mental shortcuts to make rapid decisions. Fortunately, these fast, heuristic strategies usually work well, though in some cases, they backfire spectacularly. It is these “lapses in judgment” or “errors in behaviour” that we label as cognitive biases.
These mental shortcuts help us survive; in evolutionary terms, it makes perfect sense. But what they don’t do is help us see the world accurately.
Some of these biases help us function socially or emotionally. Others protect our sense of self or ego. But many of them work quietly in the background, making decisions or tipping the scales towards a particular outcome.
The Most Common Cognitive Biases
According to Benso’s Cognitive Bias Codex, there are more than 180 documented cognitive biases. Let’s unpack a few of them through a short story.
“A general loses a battle. The kingdom blames the army. The army blames the general. The priest says it was fate. The merchant says it was a poor strategy. The general says the weather turned. And the people? They all say, “We knew it would happen.”
Let’s break that story down. Everyone has a version, a scapegoat, a reason—neatly tailored to their worldview.
The Hindsight Bias: “We knew it all along”
After the general’s defeat, everyone becomes a fortune teller. The soldier whispers, “We always knew that we would lose.” The people say, “He was too arrogant. He was bound to fail.” Your brain makes you think that you predicted the current events, even though they were completely unpredictable in the past.
Hindsight bias is when your brain alters your memory of an event. It tricks you into believing the outcome was inevitable. This bias gives us a false sense of security. It creates an illusion of our ability to understand and foresee the world.
From the cognitive perspective, hindsight bias may result from distortions of memories of what we knew or believed to know before an event occurred. It is easier to remember information that is consistent with our current knowledge. Humans are social animals who crave control, and the possibility of not knowing what’s to come terrifies us. Hindsight bias helps us cope with situations that our brain can’t fathom.
The Confirmation Bias: “I’m right—and I’ll prove it”
The merchant already believed the general was a poor strategist. This defeat simply confirms his belief. He refuses to see all the factors and only acknowledges the ones that confirm his beliefs. This is what we call confirmation bias.
Confirmation bias means your brain likes to feel right. So when you believe something, your brain works around the clock to find things that agree with what you believe. Further reinforcing your beliefs. Our brain feels safer when it hears things it already believes, so it quietly pushes other things away—even if those other things are true.
The confirmation bias describes our underlying tendency to notice, focus on, and give greater credence to evidence that fits with our existing beliefs. As a result, we tend to ignore any information that contradicts those beliefs. Confirmation bias doesn’t help you learn; it helps you feel comfortable. But if you want to see the world clearly, sometimes you have to take off those comfy glasses and look again.
Self-Serving Bias: “It’s not my fault—unless it’s a win”
When things go right, you’re a genius. When things go wrong, the world clearly conspires against you. The general blamed the weather instead of taking any responsibility. When we fail, we blame external circumstances. When we succeed, we credit our skill. That’s the self-serving bias—protecting one’s ego by attributing failure to outside forces and success to oneself.
Under the self-serving bias, how we explain the root cause of an outcome depends on whether the outcome is positive or negative. We tend to attribute positive outcomes to our characteristics or abilities, while negative outcomes are attributed to external circumstances.
This psychological defence mechanism shields our self-esteem from damage, allowing us to maintain a positive self-image even in the face of failure. While this bias helps us cope emotionally, it can also prevent honest self-reflection and hinder personal growth. Over time, consistently externalising failure may lead to stagnation, as we avoid taking responsibility and miss the opportunity to learn from our mistakes.
The Fundamental Attribution Error: “It’s them, not the situation”
Each group blames the other’s character or competence. The kingdom assumes the soldiers were incompetent. The army, in turn, attributes the failure to the general’s poor leadership. Both ignore external factors like the enemy’s strength, terrain, or unexpected events.
The fundamental attribution error refers to an individual’s tendency to attribute another’s actions to their character or personality while attributing their behaviour to external situational factors outside of their control. In other words, you tend to cut yourself a break while holding others 100 per cent accountable for their actions.
This bias makes you believe that other people’s negative actions are because of who they are—lazy, rude, careless. But when you mess up, it’s because of the circumstances—tired, stressed, misunderstood.
What Causes Cognitive Bias?
Cognitive biases can lead to distorted thinking. They are born from the way our brains are wired to survive, not to be objective. Think of your brain like a speed runner in a maze. It doesn’t stop to analyse every turn; it leaps towards the first path that feels familiar. Biases are your brain’s shortcuts, meant to save time and energy in a complex world.
But here’s the twist—they’re not all bad. Psychologists believe many cognitive biases serve an adaptive purpose. In high-pressure or threatening situations, being fast can matter more than being perfectly accurate. These shortcuts help us make split-second decisions that might just keep us alive. So while they can cloud our thinking, they also help us function in a world that doesn’t wait.
These mental shortcuts can also reduce cognitive load, allowing us to conserve mental resources for more critical tasks. Without them, we’d spend far too long on even the simplest of decisions, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information we encounter daily.
How to Break Free from Cognitive Bias
Cognitive biases sneak in because our brains want quick answers—they don’t like wasting time. But you’re not helpless. You can train your mind to spot and fight these mental traps.
First, awareness is your weapon. Just knowing that your mind isn’t always playing fair can change everything. Research shows that just getting feedback about these biases can reduce their power by almost a third. So, start by recognising when your brain is playing tricks on you instead of seeing things clearly.
Next, examine what’s really shaping your decisions. Are you riding a wave of overconfidence? Is your ego steering your thoughts? Question what influences you, and don’t fall for the crowd mentality that makes you think “everyone else believes it, so I should too.”
Adopt a growth mindset—believe your brain can improve and learn. Mistakes aren’t failures, they’re chances to get better. This attitude keeps your thinking flexible and open. Actively seek out information that challenges your beliefs. This breaks the echo chamber and helps you see the full story. The more you welcome other viewpoints, the stronger and clearer your thinking becomes.