Have you ever had—while driving—that extraordinary experience where anyone driving slower than you is an idiot, while anyone driving faster is a maniac? That, my dear reader, is an example of the Correspondence Bias in full-blown action. Generally, this bias refers to the tendency…
A few weeks ago, I wrote herewithin about a natural phenomenon: When things go well, we tend to ascribe our success to our abilities—our disposition. But when they go wrong, we tend to blame external factors—our situation. Finished. Done. Quick conclusion. Move on. But wait…
Ageing, that is. Humans have two things in common: We have a biased brain, and we grow older. Unfortunately, the fear of ageing these days is rampant, because we fear what we will become. My Claim “Being old is much better than…
In psychology, there is the term “Information Bias” which is the tendency to seek information when it doesn’t affect our actions. Nevertheless, more information isn’t always better. The instinctual shortcut that we take when we have “too much information” is to…
“Imagine you pick 1 million random people from around the world every day,” said Toby McDade, chief investment officer of Momentum Fee Capital Management. “Some days, 51% would be in a good mood, 49% in a bad mood. The next…
I blogged about our deficits in predicting the future the other day and mentioned not only our tendency to compare the present to the past, but also how we tend to get history wrong—by neglecting the impact that accidents and chance had on them. Isn’t our place in history today…
Here is a bit of philosophy to assist in rapidly finding someone (else) to blame : “Huey, Dewey and Louie. You stand accused of a grievous crime. What do you have to say for yourselves?” “Yes, I did it,” said Huey. “But it…
“A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.” — Steve Martin I personally prefer sunshine (though perhaps with less heat here in Singapore), because, since early August this year, we are the proud owners of a Solar or Photovoltaic (PV) System at our…
This bias might be at the root of all the other biases that very active traders “enjoy”. Yet, being right has very little to do with making money! The evidence is overwhelming that the more we trade, the worse we would do. That’s because most…
Have you ever asked yourself this: How can I control myself when I feel the irresistible need to break my rules about how to invest in the stock market? That question pertains to the “hot-cold-empathy gap”, where we say to ourselves in a calm…