8、Understanding Cognitive Biases: Their Impact and Management

Understanding Cognitive Biases: Their Impact and Management

1. The Nature and Usefulness of Cognitive Biases

Cognitive biases are an inherent part of human thought processes and decision - making. While they can sometimes lead to poor decisions and bad judgments, they also have a useful side.

The human brain, like a powerful but limited computer processor, has to deal with an overwhelming amount of information. To simplify the information - processing load, cognitive biases evolved as mental shortcuts, known as heuristics. These shortcuts help us quickly attend to input, make decisions, and take action.

For example, in a dangerous situation, such as walking alone at night and seeing a sudden movement in the shadows, our cognitive bias may lea