Hmm, the only way I can make sense of this article is to replace the word “biases” by “heuristics” everywhere in the article including the title. Heuristics are useful, whereas biases are bad by definition. Heuristics tend to create biases and biases tend to be created by the use of heuristics, such that I can imagine people mixing up the two terms.
I’m confused by your confusion, given that I’m pretty sure you understand the meaning of cognitive bias, which is quite explicitly the meaning of bias drawn upon here.
A cognitive bias, according to the page you link to, is “a systematic pattern of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment”.
This article is not, as I understand it, proposing that human general intelligence is built by piling up deviations from rationality. It is proposing that human general intelligence is built by piling up rules of thumb that “leverage [] local regularities”. I agree with Steven: those are heuristics, not biases. The heuristic is the thing you do. The bias is the deviation from rationality that results. It’s plausible that in some sense our minds are big interlocking piles of heuristics, fragments of cognition that work well enough in particular domains even though sometimes they go badly wrong. It is not plausible that our minds are piles of biases.
I agree that heuristics would have been a better word choice, but its intended purpose was clear to me. Bias and heuristic look at the same thing through a different lens.
Is that true? Isn’t at least one clear difference that it’s difficult to stop engaging in a bias, but heuristics are easier to set aside? For example, if I think jobs in a particular field are difficult to come by, that’s a heuristic, and if I have reason to believe otherwise (perhaps I know a particular hiring agent and know that they’ll give me a fair interview), I’ll discard it temporarily. On the other hand, if I have a bias that a field is hard to break into, maybe I’ll rationalize that even with my contact giving me a fair hearing it can’t work. It’s not impossible to decide to act against a bias, but it’s harder not to overcorrect.
Hmm, the only way I can make sense of this article is to replace the word “biases” by “heuristics” everywhere in the article including the title. Heuristics are useful, whereas biases are bad by definition. Heuristics tend to create biases and biases tend to be created by the use of heuristics, such that I can imagine people mixing up the two terms.
Sorry if I’m misunderstanding.
I’m confused by your confusion, given that I’m pretty sure you understand the meaning of cognitive bias, which is quite explicitly the meaning of bias drawn upon here.
A cognitive bias, according to the page you link to, is “a systematic pattern of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment”.
This article is not, as I understand it, proposing that human general intelligence is built by piling up deviations from rationality. It is proposing that human general intelligence is built by piling up rules of thumb that “leverage [] local regularities”. I agree with Steven: those are heuristics, not biases. The heuristic is the thing you do. The bias is the deviation from rationality that results. It’s plausible that in some sense our minds are big interlocking piles of heuristics, fragments of cognition that work well enough in particular domains even though sometimes they go badly wrong. It is not plausible that our minds are piles of biases.
I agree that heuristics would have been a better word choice, but its intended purpose was clear to me. Bias and heuristic look at the same thing through a different lens.
Is that true? Isn’t at least one clear difference that it’s difficult to stop engaging in a bias, but heuristics are easier to set aside? For example, if I think jobs in a particular field are difficult to come by, that’s a heuristic, and if I have reason to believe otherwise (perhaps I know a particular hiring agent and know that they’ll give me a fair interview), I’ll discard it temporarily. On the other hand, if I have a bias that a field is hard to break into, maybe I’ll rationalize that even with my contact giving me a fair hearing it can’t work. It’s not impossible to decide to act against a bias, but it’s harder not to overcorrect.
Where does your bias come from?