{"id":50718,"date":"2021-09-25T15:35:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-25T19:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=50718"},"modified":"2021-10-06T13:39:33","modified_gmt":"2021-10-06T17:39:33","slug":"overcome-bias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/overcome-bias\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Overcome Bias When It Gets in Your Way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Is bias <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/whats-holding-you-back\/\">holding you back<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/steps-to-achieve-your-goals\/\">achieving your goals<\/a>? How can you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-overcome-bias\/\">overcome bias<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Everyone has biases of one kind or another. Those who strive to achieve great things have to find a way to overcome bias so that it doesn&#8217;t get in the way of clear <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/thinking-and-action\/\">thinking and action<\/a>. Author and former rocket scientist Ozan Varol suggests two ways you can get these blind spots out of your way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read more to learn how to overcome bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is Bias in Your Way?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Varol, one thing that holds us back from pursuing moonshots is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cognitive-bias-definition\/\">cognitive bias<\/a>. One powerful form of bias is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/confirmation-bias-definition-2\/\">confirmation bias<\/a>: We\u2019re more likely to seek out information that confirms our existing beliefs and ignore information that contradicts those beliefs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another powerful bias is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/narrative-fallacy-2\/\">narrative fallacy<\/a>: We tell ourselves a story about the world around us and then cling (or \u201canchor\u201d) to that story even when it\u2019s being proven false in front of our eyes. Varol argues that this is especially dangerous when our opinions become part of our identities\u2014in that case, changing our opinions on a subject threatens the very core of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-we-see-ourselves\/\">how we see ourselves<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>The Origins of Bias and How to Avoid It<\/strong><br><br>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/thinking-fast-and-slow\"><em>Thinking, Fast and Slow<\/em><\/a>, Daniel Kahneman offers insight into how these biases develop. According to Kahneman, human thinking happens in two distinct systems: System 1 involves immediate, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/intuitive-thinking-2\/\">unconscious thinking<\/a> and System 2 involves higher-level, deliberate, conscious thinking. We often call on System 2 to double-check our intuitive System 1 thoughts. However, Kahneman argues that in the case of confirmation bias, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/thinking-fast-and-slow\/part-1-1\">we often don\u2019t think to call in System 2 because being proven right <em>feels <\/em>good emotionally<\/a>, so System 1 doesn\u2019t send up any red flags. A similar process happens with the narrative fallacy: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/thinking-fast-and-slow\/part-3\">The story we tell ourselves <em>feels <\/em>right, so we don\u2019t think to question it<\/a>.&nbsp;<br><br>So, how can we avoid falling into these cognitive traps? According to Kahneman, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/thinking-fast-and-slow\/part-1-5\">we\u2019re more prone to biased thinking when our higher-level cognitive resources are taxed<\/a> by exhaustion or stress. Therefore, to avoid bias, make your most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/important-decisions-in-life\/\">important decisions<\/a> when you\u2019re relaxed and well-rested.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Rocket Scientists Overcome Bias<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Varol says that scientists, on the other hand, see their initial opinions as working hypotheses, <em>not <\/em>as fact. Their goal is to test those hypotheses\u2014which, in the best case, means trying to <em>disprove <\/em>them, not prove them. When scientists fail to disprove a theory, their faith in the theory grows; when they succeed, they advance knowledge for everyone (like how historical scientists advanced our understanding of the world by proving that the Earth is not flat). Scientists have no use for hypotheses that aren\u2019t falsifiable because if there is no possible way of proving a theory <em>wrong<\/em>, you can never know if it\u2019s <em>right<\/em>. (Shortform note: Hypotheses that can be disproven are called \u201cfalsifiable.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/courses.vcu.edu\/PHY-rhg\/astron\/html\/mod\/006\/index.html\">Falsifiable hypotheses can be disproven with a single piece of evidence to the contrary<\/a>. For example, the hypothesis, \u201cOur sun is the smallest star in the galaxy\u201d can be disproven by finding a single star smaller than the sun.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How You Can Overcome Bias<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Varol offers two suggestions for overcoming bias:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1) Come up with more than one hypothesis.<\/strong> Varol argues that when you have one hypothesis, no matter how tentative, you\u2019re guaranteed to anchor to it. To avoid that, come up with multiple hypotheses that conflict with one another. This will help prevent you from anchoring too much to any of them. (Shortform note: This advice is easier said than done, especially if you\u2019re working on a project that you\u2019re passionate about. According to Ryan Holiday in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/ego-is-the-enemy\"><em>Ego Is the Enemy<\/em><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/ego-is-the-enemy\/part-1b\">passion can actually derail success<\/a> when we get so caught up in one idea that we become unable to see any flaws in our ideas.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2) Look at your beliefs as though they were someone else\u2019s<\/strong>. This gives you some distance that can help you maintain objectivity.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, you can only do this up to a point, as it\u2019s impossible to identify <em>all<\/em> your own blind spots. To do that, you\u2019ll need to run your opinions by other people and let them poke holes in your ideas. (Shortform note: In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/principles-life-and-work\"><em>Principles: Life and Work<\/em><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/who-is-ray-dalio\/\">Ray Dalio<\/a> recommends weighing other people\u2019s opinions of your ideas based on how qualified they are to comment on the subject. Take the judgments of inexperienced people with a grain of salt.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is bias holding you back from achieving your goals? How can you overcome bias? Everyone has biases of one kind or another. Those who strive to achieve great things have to find a way to overcome bias so that it doesn&#8217;t get in the way of clear thinking and action. Author and former rocket scientist Ozan Varol suggests two ways you can get these blind spots out of your way. Read more to learn how to overcome bias.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":50725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,160,43],"tags":[510],"class_list":["post-50718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","category-science","category-self-improvement","tag-think-like-a-rocket-scientist","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Overcome Bias When It Gets in Your Way - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bias gets in the way of clear thinking and action. 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