{"id":59676,"date":"2022-02-05T13:49:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-05T17:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=59676"},"modified":"2022-02-14T13:56:03","modified_gmt":"2022-02-14T17:56:03","slug":"bias-towards-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/","title":{"rendered":"How Bias Towards Action Can Lead to Recklessness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What is action bias? Is being action-oriented a good thing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Action bias is the tendency to take action rather than waiting for a better opportunity or more information. While the bias towards action is better than procrastination, it may lead to hasty and reckless decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s why bias towards action can sometimes do more harm than good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-action-bias\"><strong>Action Bias<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For early humans, delaying action could mean death (for instance, if a predator approached). While this is much less often the case for modern humans, we still instinctively want to act in all situations. However, bias towards action causes problems in today\u2019s complex world, when impulsive actions are more likely to cause problems than waiting and thinking things through. For example, impulsively deciding to invest in a fund without waiting and researching its likelihood of growth may lead to you losing money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>While the need for patience has grown, society&#8217;s tolerance of it hasn\u2019t<\/strong>, Dobelli says. People praise those who take action, even if that action was reckless or hasty, while accusing those who choose to wait and gather information of cowardice. (Shortform note: Others argue that Dobelli is only partially right. Studies show that people praise <a href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/blog\/trust-games\/202110\/should-leaders-make-quick-decisions#:~:text=Why%20does%20decision,about%20their%20choice.\">leaders who quickly make <em>positive<\/em> decisions (like promoting someone) and see them as more trustworthy than those who wait<\/a>. However, they see leaders who quickly make <em>negative<\/em> decisions (like cutting someone\u2019s pay) as less trustworthy. Thus, society\u2019s tolerance for quick decisions is situation-specific, rather than uniform as Dobelli implies.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>Action Bias and Manipulation<\/strong><br><br>While Dobelli acknowledges that action bias causes problems in the modern world, he doesn\u2019t cover a specific issue that can have major consequences: People, or even governments, manipulating action bias to fulfill their own goals.<br><br>In his book <a href=\"https:\/\/shortform.com\/app\/book\/factfulness\/10\"><em>Factfulness<\/em><\/a>, Hans Rosling argues that salespeople, politicians, and activists manipulate action bias by using time limits and worst-case scenarios to spark panic. In the wake of this panic, they encourage people to take drastic actions rather than waiting to gather more information\u2014in other words, to give in to action bias. Simultaneously, they withhold information from the public because it\u2019s easier to inspire panic when the public has little information or experience. Panicking and ill-informed, the public makes hasty decisions that can be disastrous.<br><br>For example, say a politician\u2019s running for president. He encourages people to vote for him by saying war with another country is inevitable\u2014a worst-case scenario\u2014 and he can mitigate the damage by attacking first. He presents the other country as highly dangerous and emphasizes the need for immediate response. He also exaggerates the consequences of <em>not <\/em>acting\u2014for instance, that their country\u2019s way of life will be destroyed. This sparks panic among the public. The politician then limits the distribution of any opposing information, so the public can\u2019t allay this panic through research. Thus, the panicking public votes the politician into office, no matter how unjustified or disastrous doing so actually is.<br><br>No matter the source, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/overcome-bias\/\">overcoming bias<\/a> towards action is important. Dobelli doesn\u2019t explain how to do so, but Rosling suggests the following tips:<br><br><strong>1.<\/strong> <strong>Collect information.<\/strong> Examine all facts and evidence before <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/jumping-to-conclusions-psychology\/\">jumping to conclusions<\/a>.<br><strong>2.<\/strong> <strong>Don\u2019t panic.<\/strong> Remember that most problems don\u2019t have a \u201cnow or never\u201d deadline.<br><strong>3.<\/strong> <strong>Mind probability.<\/strong> Focus on the most probable scenario instead of the worst case scenario.&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is action bias? Is being action-oriented a good thing? Action bias is the tendency to take action rather than waiting for a better opportunity or more information. While the bias towards action is better than procrastination, it may lead to hasty and reckless decisions. Here&#8217;s why bias towards action can sometimes do more harm than good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":32026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,160],"tags":[576],"class_list":["post-59676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","category-science","tag-the-art-of-thinking-clearly","","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 Bias Towards Action Can Lead to Recklessness - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Action bias is the tendency to act rather than wait for a better opportunity. Here&#039;s why bias towards action often does more harm than good.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Bias Towards Action Can Lead to Recklessness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Action bias is the tendency to act rather than wait for a better opportunity. Here&#039;s why bias towards action often does more harm than good.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-05T17:49:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-14T17:56:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/jump-courage-bold-brave.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"How Bias Towards Action Can Lead to Recklessness\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-05T17:49:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-14T17:56:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/\"},\"wordCount\":568,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/jump-courage-bold-brave.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Art of Thinking Clearly\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Psychology\",\"Science\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/\",\"name\":\"How Bias Towards Action Can Lead to Recklessness - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/jump-courage-bold-brave.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-05T17:49:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-14T17:56:03+00:00\",\"description\":\"Action bias is the tendency to act rather than wait for a better opportunity. Here's why bias towards action often does more harm than good.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/jump-courage-bold-brave.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/jump-courage-bold-brave.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Bias Towards Action Can Lead to Recklessness\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\",\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"caption\":\"Darya Sinusoid\"},\"description\":\"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Bias Towards Action Can Lead to Recklessness - Shortform Books","description":"Action bias is the tendency to act rather than wait for a better opportunity. Here's why bias towards action often does more harm than good.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Bias Towards Action Can Lead to Recklessness","og_description":"Action bias is the tendency to act rather than wait for a better opportunity. Here's why bias towards action often does more harm than good.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2022-02-05T17:49:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-02-14T17:56:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/jump-courage-bold-brave.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Darya Sinusoid","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Darya Sinusoid","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/"},"author":{"name":"Darya Sinusoid","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46"},"headline":"How Bias Towards Action Can Lead to Recklessness","datePublished":"2022-02-05T17:49:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-14T17:56:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/"},"wordCount":568,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/jump-courage-bold-brave.jpg","keywords":["The Art of Thinking Clearly"],"articleSection":["Psychology","Science"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/","name":"How Bias Towards Action Can Lead to Recklessness - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/jump-courage-bold-brave.jpg","datePublished":"2022-02-05T17:49:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-14T17:56:03+00:00","description":"Action bias is the tendency to act rather than wait for a better opportunity. Here's why bias towards action often does more harm than good.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/jump-courage-bold-brave.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/jump-courage-bold-brave.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bias-towards-action\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Bias Towards Action Can Lead to Recklessness"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46","name":"Darya Sinusoid","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","caption":"Darya Sinusoid"},"description":"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/jump-courage-bold-brave.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59676"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60569,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59676\/revisions\/60569"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}