Be on guard! Your mind is playing tricks on you all the time and trying to become your master.
You need to be aware of the ways your mind affects your decision-making ability.
What Buddha said, “You have two choices: to control your mind or to let your mind control you”, seems true.
Unless you make your mind your servant and make a conscious effort to understand the tricks it plays on you, it will continue to cloud your thinking and lead you to make wrong decisions.
Here, I am going to explore the tricks your mind plays on you and will let you know how to avoid them, so stick with me till the end.
1. Your Mind Likes To Take Shortcuts
Beware that your mind is a lazy servant like the majority of them, which likes to take shortcuts.
When it comes to solving certain problems, it does not properly read the situation and rather tends to fall back on past solutions.
For example, your mind may make you feel fearful of travelling by air just because of some high-profile plane crashes in the past.
Here your mind is suggesting that travelling by air is more dangerous than travelling by car.
However, in reality, travelling by air is far safer than travelling by road, so here your mind is just influencing your thinking ability, and thus you make a wrong conclusion. source
2. Our Mind plays the blame game
You might have noticed in your daily life that whenever any bad situation occurs, your mind tends to look for something or someone to blame, especially when you are enjoying some sort of authority.
Honestly speaking, I am also guilty of it! What about you?
What actually happens is when something goes wrong in our life, our mind twists the reality to protect our self-esteem, so instead of taking responsibility for the loss or failure, we begin to blame external factors.
Well, it is ok to think like this if it is true, but most often, our mind convinces us that someone else or some certain event is responsible for a bad situation.
On the other hand, if we meet success, we most often give credit to ourselves alone and deem it the result of our skills, traits, and efforts, and neglect other contributors such as our parents, circumstances, and luck, isn’t it so?
3. Your mind is swayed by change blindness
Affected by change blindness, your mind tends to miss the major changes happening around you.
It happens because our mind fails to deal with a huge amount of information and only manages to remember a few things.
In our day-to-day lives, many things keep on changing in front of our eyes, but our minds cannot register them.
We realize those changes only when an outsider visits our area after a long time and draws our attention towards them.
These changes may include the construction of new buildings and roads.
I have many times experienced this change blindness. Is this true in your case?
4. You Start Expecting Too Much
High expectations often bring suffering.
Almost all of us make this mistake under the influence of our minds, and we start expecting others to suddenly transform themselves.
Well, here, your mind clouds your thinking, and thus you neglect the reasons why somebody behaves in a certain way or has a specific bent of mind.
So, when things don’t happen according to your expectations, you become tense and unwittingly put yourself under mental stress.
When you begin to expect too much from others, your mind tends to neglect people’s educational background and socio-economic conditions that play a vital role in forming certain opinions or following certain ideas.
I often experience this as a father when I admonish my children on certain matters such as following a certain timetable, rising early, or working hard, and tend to expect quick results.
In my view, when advising others, we should not expect too much too soon and have the patience to see good results.
5. Your memory isn’t as sharp as you think
Another illusion your mind creates is when you tend to rely heavily on your false memory.
Remember, your mind is not a video recorder that can record every detail of something, so it tends to miss enormous amounts of detail and makes you believe that you remember a lot.
Another example of false memory is when our mind tricks us into believing that certain events occurred in the past, but in reality, nothing like that had happened.
For example, when some of us watch a video of others visiting some places, our mind makes us believe as if we were there as well.
Research also affirms that we tend to forget many things and thus fail to retrieve that information from our memory.
At times, we purposefully forget bad and painful memories because they hurt us emotionally.
It is true in my case; I try not to recall bad memories, and if they ever haunt me, I consider them as lessons that taught me to become a better decision-maker.
In addition, I always remember sweet memories, successes, and precious moments of my life spent with my family and friends.
So, to avoid the trap of false or bad memory, you need to have a maximum presence of mind and try to live in the present moment, for our mind often tends to take us in the past or the future, as Eckhart Tolle has emphasized, making a maximum of the Power of Now.
6. Following Your False Assumption
This trick of the mind is called Anchoring, in which we already make up our minds about certain things.
For example, if a car or a house has a high initial price, we start assuming that it is of high quality.
Many shopkeepers use this strategy to trick us and manage to sell low-quality products at high prices.
I think the majority of us must have been tricked by such shopkeepers who take advantage of this mental weakness and manage to sell their substandard products.
To avoid this trap, you should always look at the quality of a product and never assume that the high price guarantees its best quality.
7. Irrationally clinging to certain things
Blindly clinging to our favourite ideas and things is called the sunk cost fallacy.
When we begin to consider a few things and ideas as our integral part, we fear letting them go.
For example, if you have a strong association with your old house where you spent your childhood, you fear selling it and feel as if these things are part of you.
I felt the same when we had to sell our dear home about 25 years ago for business reasons and moved to another city.
I had the same feeling. I thought as if this house was part of my being. I thought I was losing some part of myself.
I still remember the house where I spent my childhood with my siblings. I wish I could go there and spend some time there. Have you ever experienced such a feeling?
Avoiding the old sunk fallacy seems difficult, though; you need to think rationally and make wise decisions in a given situation.
8. Unnecessary Justification Of Our Beliefs
When we unnecessarily look for the only pieces of evidence that agree with our beliefs and tend to ignore the counter facts, our mind clouds our thinking, and we fail to reach the right decision.
This is called Confirmation Bias.
For instance, if we dislike any particular celebrity we tend to look for negative things about him and ignore anything which paints him in a good light.
I think every one of us is guilty of confirmation bias at some point in our lives. Do you agree? I confess I am guilty of it!
Well, to avoid this kind of bias, you should always try to seek the truth and try to evaluate your pre-existing beliefs and opinions on a rational basis.
9. Dunning-Kruger Effect
When the dunning-Kruger effect clouds our thinking, we either begin to underestimate our knowledge or overestimate it.
For example, scholars and learned people tend to underestimate their knowledge and, despite having ample knowledge of a certain topic, begin to consider themselves ignorant of it.
On the other hand, swayed by this cognitive bias of illusory superiority, some people tend to overestimate their skills and knowledge and mistakenly believe that they have enough knowledge about some topic, but the truth is otherwise.
10. Backfire Effect
If you tend to hold your dogmas and tribal identities so dear to you that, if challenged, you go into reactionary mode and stick with the beliefs and traditions more adamantly than before, it means you are swayed by the backfire effect.
For example, people adhering to certain religious beliefs or political ideologies are usually influenced by the Backfire effect, especially when their religious beliefs or political ideologies are challenged.
So, to avoid this reactionary mode, you need to look into such sensitive issues rationally, take the middle way, and show patience and tolerance.
11. We get influenced by the Barnum Effect
Influenced by the Barnum Effect, we tend to believe vague and fuzzy statements to be true. Such accounts usually contain personality descriptions.
For example, when astrologers and psychics give general personality descriptions, we begin to apply them to us without realizing that they can apply to everyone.
Friends, have you ever been influenced by the Barnum Effect after reading your horoscope?
Honestly speaking, I get influenced after reading mine, and many times, I feel that at least some statements apply to me.
What about you?
To avoid the Barnum Effect, remember, nothing can be said specifically about a particular person that s/he would behave in a certain way. Each one of us is unique.
Our destiny is largely dependent upon the choices we make in our lives.
Those who make wise choices normally live a good and successful life, but those who make poor choices usually end up living a bad one, isn’t it so?
12. Declinism
This negative bias makes us feel that the past was better than the future.
You must have heard old people saying: “Remember the good old days?”, haven’t you?
On the other hand, Declinism makes you view the future of our society negatively.
As a result, you tend to remember the positive events of your childhood and forget the negative ones.
13۔ Framing Effect
Under the framing effect, we tend to value those options presented to us positively.
When choosing different options, we tend to choose the one that appeals to our biases.
For instance, when advertising companies present their products to us with positive words and body language, we tend to buy them without being so critical about the quality of the product.
I think every one of us is affected by the framing effect in this commercial world where we are all the time bombarded by catchy and appealing advertisements, aren’t we?
14۔ The just-world hypothesis simplifies the world around us.
Also, you tend to believe that hard work always pays off. But remember, life is not fair; you have to get used to it.
Believing in a just world may motivate us to make long-term efforts, feel in control, improve our emotional well-being, and allow us to cope with difficult situations, but in the real world, the just-world hypothesis is quite deceiving.
For example, under this effect, you tend to blame victims for their mishaps, even when what they had gone through wasn’t their fault.
To avoid this cognitive bias, you should negate the assumption that there is always a connection between actions and consequences and try to ponder the situation rationally. source
15. In-group Bias
Swayed by in-group bias or favouritism, our mind tends to be more helpful towards our group members compared to other groups.
Under inter-group bias, we begin to unfairly forgive and favor our colleagues and friends over other out-groups.
These groups usually share common religious beliefs, political ideologies, ethnicity, and geographical identities.
To avoid this bias, consider yourself an outsider, and before you jump to a conclusion, try to remain neutral.
16. Fundamental Attribution Error
Influenced by fundamental attribution error, your mind convinces you to judge others on their character while yourself on the situation.
If others commit mistakes, we are inclined to blame them for having a damaged personality, but when we behave in the same manner, we manage to forgive ourselves.
For example, if someone cuts the queue, you consider that person a complete jerk without giving a second thought that he might be in a hurry for some valid reasons, e.g., s/he might be going to miss the plane or going to see one’s close relation who is on the verge of death.
To avoid this correspondence bias, you should give margin to others as well and judge them in a given situation as we do when driving on the road when we give way to the ambulance carrying a serious patient to the hospital.
17. Halo effect
It seems true that first impression counts because when the Halo effect blurs our thinking, we tend to be influenced by it.
For example, if you admire some celebrities, you try to follow them in every way. If s/he recommends a product, you tend to use it without giving serious thought about its quality.
This is why advertising companies look for social media influencers and pick celebrities and beautiful models to promote their products.
Our good impression of our favourite actors or actresses inclines us to buy their recommended products, be it a car or an anti-wrinkle cream.
Friends, tell me honestly how many times have you bought a product recommended by your favorite celeb?
18. Placebo effect
Under the Placebo effect, your mind convinces your body that a fake treatment is a real thing. Under this effect, even when you take fake medicine, you assume it is working.
Here, your mind works as a powerful healing tool.
Scientific study also affirms that believing a treatment will work creates a strong connection between the brain and body, so it begins to heal quicker.
Remember, placebos won’t shrink your tumour or lower your cholesterol level but only work on symptoms like stress-related insomnia, pain management, fatigue, and nausea.
19. Bystander effect
Influenced by the Bystander effect, your mind wrongly convinces you that others around you will help you in a difficult situation.
On the other hand, when someone else is being assaulted, your mind doesn’t allow you to take the necessary steps to mitigate the bad situation, and you become shocked to be inaction.
Why does it happen?
Latane and Darley explain that the bystander effect clouds our thinking for two reasons: diffusion of responsibility and social influence.
In diffusion of responsibility, we feel less responsible for taking action in the presence of more onlookers, and under social influence, we tend to monitor the behaviour of those around us and then decide how to act.
You may ask what to do when you are the victim. Well, the first and foremost thing is, do not panic and never forget if you are in trouble, it is you who will have to come out of the bad situation.
In such situations, expecting from others will hamper you from taking the initial necessary steps and dealing with the situation head-on.
As for how to respond when someone else is the victim?
Well, again, don’t panic.
Think of the best possible response in a given situation, such as extending a helping hand if possible, or asking others to join you, if not possible for some reason, at least calling the police or an ambulance might be the best option.
20. Availability Heuristic
This availability bias is a mental shortcut your mind takes on when you rely on the immediate example of a specific concept, method, or decision.
Under the Availability Heuristic, our mind tends to use information that comes to mind easily and influences our decision-making ability.
For example, if you are to choose between two shopkeepers to buy groceries you won’t buy things from the one who once dealt with you indecently even though he sells high-quality items at a fair price, but you tend to buy things from the one who deals with you decently even though he sells a low-quality product at a high price.
To avoid this, you have to evaluate every matter on merit and should consider all the factors that contribute to reaching a well-informed and wise decision.
21. Curse of knowledge
Under cognitive bias, your mind tends to convince you about a complex thing to be so obvious that you begin to assume you can easily deal with it.
But in reality, you oversimplify the matter and miss the complex part.
Imagine wandering through a giant building, going down hallways and peeking into rooms.
You might think, “No problem, I’ll easily find my way back out!”
But then, when you actually try to leave, BAM! You’re totally lost, scratching your head and trying to remember which way you came. It’s like your brain played a trick on you, making you think it was simpler than it really was to find your way.
I experience this cognition especially when I visit some grand buildings or hotels for the first time. Have you ever experienced such a situation?
Another example of the Curse of Knowledge is when, in a classroom situation, a teacher overlooks the knowledge base of the students and begins to teach them a complex subject.
As a result, the learning process is hampered, students get frustrated, and the teacher fails to get the desired results.
22. Belief bias
Under belief bias, your mind tends to justify all the conclusions that agree with your desired belief system.
When counter-proofs are presented, even though they are logical and rational, you simply turn a blind eye to them and do not bother to give deep consideration to them.
We often find religious-minded and politically motivated people falling prey to this belief bias.
23. Self-serving bias
Swayed by Self-serving bias, we tend to take credit for the positive happenings or results, but when mishaps and failures occur, we begin to blame external factors.
For example, when students get good marks on exams, they assume their success to be the result of their hard work, but when they have bad grades on another exam, they tend to blame the teacher for not being fair to them.
Friends, tell me honestly how many times have you been entrapped by self-serving bias as a student? In my case, many times!
Also, you must have seen some athletes and players who, when winning a game, attribute their success to practice and hard work, but when losing, blame the referee for bad calls.
Similar is the case of the job applicants who, when hired, believe they were hired based on their talent and excellent interview, but when rejected, they don’t take responsibility for their failure but rather begin to blame the interviewer for not liking them. source
24. Groupthink
Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon in which we tend to strive for consensus within a group. We set aside our personal opinions and beliefs and succumb to a majority opinion.
This is common among religious and political communities.
Under the Groupthink factor, people feel intimidated to express their dissent and choose to remain quiet to maintain peace and uniformity even though are opposed to the decisions or opinions of their group members.
Groupthink has its benefits and harms. When you work in a group, it allows you to complete tasks, finish projects successfully, and make decisions.
As for harm, it hampers freedom of expression and creativity and can lead to poor decision-making.
25. Negativity bias
Under Negativity bias or effect, we tend to give more weight to negative experiences than positive ones.
Research also affirms that negative emotions are three times stronger than positive ones.
The reason why we are hard-wired to remember had experiences can be traced back to the Stone Age when our ancestors needed to remember dangerous situations more intensely than good ones for their survival.
26. Optimism bias
Optimism bias blurs your thinking, and you tend to believe that you are less likely to face negative events.
This unrealistic optimism convinces you that your chances of experiencing bad events are lower than your friends, so you tend to become less careful about potential threats.
This comparative optimism can, therefore, lead us to make certain mistakes such as not fastening a seatbelt, not saving enough money for emergencies, or not putting on sunscreen before exposing ourselves to the sunlight.
For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, some people believed that the coronavirus would not affect them, so they didn’t wear masks or maintain a proper distance from each other.
The fact was that, as per the WHO report dated September 4, 2020, 848 K people died from Coronavirus globally.
27. Pessimism bias
In contrast with optimism bias, pessimism bias leads us to overestimate the chances of bad occurrences, so we begin to think that we are likely to face troubles more often than others.
One aspect of this cognitive bias is you begin to use pessimism as a defence against the possibility of disappointments, e.g. you already made up your mind that a so-and-so person or situation is bound to get worse.
Most cynics and depressed people tend to express pessimism bias.
One of the surveys conducted among smokers also reveals that the pessimistic smokers who tended to exaggerate the likelihood that bad things would happen to them were more vulnerable to health issues than those who had a less pessimistic approach towards smoking.
28. Reactance Factor
When you feel that someone or something is taking away your ability to make choices or limiting them, you perceive it as a threat to your freedom of choice and tend to do the opposite.
As a father, I experienced the reactance factor when I forbade my 5-year-old boy from eating chocolate without my permission or not going outside without completing his homework.
He tried his best to look for the chocolate or find a way to go to the park without completing his work.
Even advertising companies also exploit this human behaviour when they ask the viewers or customers:
Do not touch this!
Do not watch this video!
They do it to attract their customers and viewers because they know many would try to do the opposite under the Reactance factor.
Have you ever been tricked by advertising companies and clicked the video after reading,
‘’ Don’t click or watch”? Be honest, my friend!
29. Spotlight Effect
Under the spotlight effect, our mind tends to convince us that people are noticing us all the time while, in reality, they aren’t.
In other words, we assume there is a spotlight on us constantly highlighting our flaws and exposing us to the world.
I know one of my friends has this anxiety; he always thinks other people are trying to harm him, and therefore, he feels uncomfortable around them.
If he finds someone smiling around him, he considers it as if he is being mocked and sometimes even begins to quarrel with him.
He sometimes shares his fears with us that so and so is a hypocrite and conspiring against him or other people.
What is your experience? Have you ever felt influenced by the spotlight effect, or do you know anyone whose thinking is swayed by the spotlight effect?
Conclusion
Now you know how your mind is all the time playing tricks on you and trying to blur your thinking.
If you become the master of your mind, it can serve you as a capable servant, but if you let it rule over you, it will deceive you in many ways and get you in trouble by leading you to make wrong choices.
Although it seems nearly impossible to avoid the tricks your mind plays on you, you should develop the habit of deliberating upon matters now that you know them.
This will help you make well-informed and considerate decisions in the future, how your mind is all the time playing tricks on you and trying to blur your thinking.
If you become the master of your mind, it can serve you as a capable servant, but if you let it rule over you, it will deceive you in many ways and get you in trouble by leading you to make wrong choices.
Although it seems nearly impossible to avoid the tricks your mind plays on you, now that you know them, you should develop the habit of deliberating upon matters.
This will help you make well-informed and considerate decisions in the future.
