How Hidden Biases Sabotage Your Decisions

[IKE]

I am throwing this in the strategy section for lack of a better place to put it. When coming up with your strategies, you will ultimately have to make a decision.

Here is a neat little 1 hour Webinar from Stanford on possibly hidden biases and how they migh influence you decisions.

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For those of you that have watched it, I personally think Donald was an engineer, but I could be biased...

[Brandon Zalinsky]

I could only think of one thing as I listened to this- the widespread dislike, generally unsupported by facts, of mechanum wheels. Thanks for posting this, this is pretty cool and eye-opening!

[s1900ahon]

You might also want to check out the book

Inevitable Illusions: How Mistakes of Reason Rule Our Minds by Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini

Covers how incorrect facts (premise) ruin perfectly good logical reasoning.

[Tom Line]

How often do you have a conversation with someone about a technical issue and they persuade a group of people to follow a particular course of action just through force of personality and several quickly thrown out numbers?

This describes that situation exactly. Most good 'arguers' are good because of they way they present the material. Not because they are right.

I thoroughly enjoyed that seminar.

[DampRobot]

Originally Posted by Tom Line

How often do you have a conversation with someone about a technical issue and they persuade a group of people to follow a particular course of action just through force of personality and several quickly thrown out numbers?

This describes that situation exactly. Most good 'arguers' are good because of they way they present the material. Not because they are right.

All the more reason for engineers to have good rhetoric and writing skills. Your opinions, no matter how well founded, are basically useless unless you can successfully convince people. I do agree, though, that in the end of the day it should matter more who has the best engineering rational than the most skill in arguing.

[dellagd]

Originally Posted by DampRobot

All the more reason for engineers to have good rhetoric and writing skills. Your opinions, no matter how well founded, are basically useless unless you can successfully convince people. I do agree, though, that in the end of the day it should matter more who has the best engineering rational than the most skill in arguing.

All very true, and all very frustrating.

Try to listen more to the facts and less the presentation to get the real story, but its tough. Great point for those who have to be convinced, and interesting look on brainstorming and such..