How to Identify Your Cognitive Biases & Allergies

This essay is the second in a short series about taking personal responsibility for improving the quality of the content circulating in the information environment. In essay one, ‘How to Fight Information Pollution’, we considered methods we can adopt to help ensure the information we share is integral and truthful. This second essay focuses on a process to help us gain greater awareness of our individual cognitive biases and allergies.

What Is Cognitive Bias?

A cognitive bias is a predetermined opinion of someone or something based on facts we know, think we know, or do not know. The human brain creates these assumptions as mental shortcuts to speed up information processing and aid in swiftly making sense of what we see.

Cognitive biases come in various forms, but they all function as systemic flaws in an individual’s thinking style that come from their own views, observations, or points of view. There are many biases people encounter, which impact how we think, act, and make decisions.

The Cognitive Bias Codex Chart is the most comprehensive list of known biases, detailing no less than 188 different types. Click on the image below for a high-definition version of the chart.