Welcome to Constantly Curious, Edition #27!

This week at a glance:

• Examining Anchoring Bias

• Can’t Miss Links of the Week 🔥

• What Have You Changed Your Mind About Recently?

• Three (3) Quotes/Thoughts

If this is your first time reading - welcome! Let your curiosity run wild with us every Thursday at 12pm EST.

With that said, let’s get into it -

Examining Anchoring Bias

Let’s examine one of the most prominent psychological biases people regularly exhibit: Anchoring Bias.

Anchoring Bias is a cognitive bias where all new information on a topic is subconsciously viewed through the lens of the first piece of information you learned on said topic…even if that first piece of information is wrong, outdated, incorrect, etc.

Example #1: A baseball player hits .100 in his first 25 games. You tell yourself, “this player stinks!”. He then proceeds to hit .330 the remaining 137 games (which would make the player elite). But, you never “believe” in said player because you “anchor” your opinion based on your initial impression, and are unable to adapt to new (and more relevant) information.

Example #2: A piece of clothing you want costs $200. You say, “I love it, but that’s out of my budget.” Then, the same piece of clothing goes on sale for 25% off. You see this and think, “what a deal! I have to purchase it!”. In reality, it is still out of your budget and overpriced - but, you are “anchored” to the initial price point, and anything less feels like a great deal.

This bias is dangerous because it prevents you from adjusting to new (and potentially more important) information.

Actionable Takeaways:

Now that you understand Anchoring Bias, you can combat it. Here’s how…

1.  Awareness - As with all psychological biases, by simply being aware of it, you are much more likely to be able to recognize and overcome its effects.

2. Create A Mental Framework - Anchoring is deeply rooted in our psychology, so truly evaluating whether your anchor holds water is challenging. Here’s what I do:

   1. Ask, “How could my judgement/impression/opinion be wrong?” Come up with at least 2 arguments against myself.

   2. Objectively evaluate the merits of these arguments, and compare them to my initial bias

   3. If the “new” arguments make more sense, I pivot and adjust my opinion, decision, judgment, etc.

When in doubt, live by this phrase…

Strong Opinions, Loosely Held

CAN’T MISS Links of the Week

PRO TIPS: For any articles that are paywall’d, refer to CC #11 or CC #19 for a way to bypass. OR, utilize your iPhone’s “Reader View” in your browser (this works occasionally)

💭  Jared Kushner: Israel, Palestine, Hamas, Gaza, Iran and the Middle East (Lex Fridman Podcast)

🏀 Scoop Dreams: Shams Charania Tweeted his Way to the Top of the NBA World - Here’s His Story (NY Mag Feature Story)

⚾  The Bryce Harper 30 for 30 Will be a Helluva Watch (Barstool Sports)

🎸 The Blink-182 Comeback Interview with Zane Lowe (Youtube)

What Have you Changed your Mind About Recently?

Let’s build upon our Anchoring Bias idea, and take it to an actionable step…ask yourself this:

What have I changed my mind about recently?

Stop and pause.

Seriously consider this question…

What have you changed your mind about recently?

Here’s one of mine…

I used to believe that government intervention in market sectors didn’t have that much of an impact. Now, I believe it has a much larger impact than I previously gave credit for - specifically, this image opened my eyes…

Hopefully you have your own answer.

If you don’t, ask yourself…why?

Are all of your opinions and beliefs 100% correct? Surely not…right?

If you haven’t changed your mind on any “big” ideas recently, I encourage you to audit yourself.

Use what you’ve learned on Anchoring Bias (or The Spotlight Effect and Solomon’s Paradox) to create the frameworks to do this.

Remember…

Strong Opinions, Loosely Held

Three Quotes & Ideas to Consider

See you next week!

Stay Curious, Friends!