See the World With Clear Lenses
The cognitive biases that quietly shape what you believe — anchoring, availability, comparison, confirmation — and why social media supercharges them.
See the world with clear lenses
Welcome to issue unPRESCRIBED issue #4 and one talking about one of my favorite topics: bias. I hope that by the end of this issue you are as excited about them as I am. They are essential for “seeing” the world with clear lenses and understanding the tricks our brains play on our perception of the information that we receive (hear, see, and so on).
Dose of the week - Understanding Biases
Our brain is not a neutral observer. Some people divide it into two systems: one that is fast, emotional, and full of shortcuts, and another that is reasonable but uses more energy and needs to be consciously activated.
I recently posted a video about one of the main biases to be aware of on social media: The Halo Effect.
It’s the tendency to assume that if someone looks good, succeeds in one area, or seems confident, then they must be smart, trustworthy, kind, or competent in everything else.
However, that couldn’t be farther away from the true.
If you don’t have active control (and practice) over these two systems, system 1 will always dictate your perception of the world around you.
Biases affect EVERYTHING. Relationships, work, politics, Medicine.
Because of that, they are heavily studied in the education and training of researches and physicians.
Other Examples
There are hundreds of other types of biases, but I will share some that are present in our everyday lives.
(Not necessarily commonly present in researches and Medicine).
The Anchoring Effect
Used all the time in marketing and sales.
The very first number we see becomes our reference point.
If a supplement says “was $89, now $29,” that $89 becomes your anchor — even if the product was never worth $89. And now, you consider the current price of $29 not that bad.
In Medicine, for example, you can see a bad number of LDL-Cholesterol but since the last patient was much worse, you might be less alarmed.
Availability Bias
We believe something is more common or more dangerous simply because we saw it recently.
If you see 5 videos of young people having heart attacks, your brain thinks it’s happening everywhere — even if the actual numbers haven’t changed at all. We recently had a similar “feeling” about plane crashes. When in reality, they have been as frequent or less than in the past.
Social media is a machine for availability bias.
The Comparison Trap (Social Comparison Bias)
You compare your real life to someone else’s highlight reel.
You see their best lighting, best pose, best angle, best moment — and compare it to your worst.
This is one of the major drivers of anxiety, body dissatisfaction, and unhealthy fitness problems that we have today.
Confirmation Bias
Maybe the most powerful one.
You tend to seek, notice, and believe information that confirms what you already think — and ignore everything that challenges it.
Even worse… the algorithm understands that and feeds your desires of confirmation. If you don’t actively look for alternative information, in lack of better words, you are cooked.
Book Recommendation
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman is one of my favorite books of all time and it’s all about biases, systems 1 and 2, and how to really be a way-above-average thinker. Oh well, I had to say it. This is the key to being extraordinary.
However, it is not the easiest read, so take your time — it will be worth it.
The Panicats
When our reference points change, everything changes.
I also posted about a group of women who, in the early 2000s-2010s, were considered the peak of female physique on TV.
Back then, they were seen as something almost unattainable.
Whereas today, someone commented this:
Our brains adapt to what we see the most — even when it’s artificial.
My open diary
I started running again!
If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I’ve always been active. I’ve been training my whole life in several different modalities and I don’t think I’ve ever spent more than six months without some form of exercise. But running consistently? I’ve tried many times before and never really took a liking for it. But because it’s hard, I’m more mature, and it is one of the “easiest” (can do anywhere) ways of training endurance and the cardiovascular system, I am very excited and committed.
I have a goal: run 10 miles one day.
I’ve never done it in my life.
I’m also working on my comeback to YouTube (yay!) — a new video that will mix two things I love right now: AI and health. Once this video is out, I will also release my new (promised) website with all my content organized in one place. I just need a little bit more variety of content to make it interesting and appealing.
More about that soon.
If you got to the end, thank you very much! Talk soon.
Tchau!