Stories About Human Biases 😃

Stories About Human Biases 😃

Once upon a time a grain merchant loaded wheat on his camel's back. He managed to load 50 kilograms of wheat on one side. In order to balance the burden, he loaded another 50 kgs bag of sand on the other side.
A passing man noticed this and asked the merchant: "Why you don't split the wheat to 25 kilograms on each side. That will help to lighten the weight and will allow the camel to move faster." The merchant liked that idea very much and immediately implemented the advice of the man.
Then the merchant asked the man "Oh sir, you seem very wise, who are you, are you a known scholar or did you study in some well-known school?"
The man replied to him: "No, I'm just a common man and have no strong credentials as you assumed".
Following this answer, the merchant restored the sand bag and wheat and positioned them as they initially were!

To explain the strange events even in this simple short story properly you need at least 3 cognitive biases:
- AUTHORITY BIAS. The tendency to attribute greater accuracy to the opinion of an authority figure (irrespective of its actual content) and the tendency to be more influenced by such opinion.
- FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR. Overemphasizing personal factors and under-estimating situational factors when explaining other people's behavior.
- CONFIRMATION BIAS. Paying more attention to information that reinforces previously held beliefs and ignoring evidence of the contrary.

Think a while about how often you probably fall victim of your own human biases when you're making a decision or when you're judging other people…

⇨ Do you know a similar funny story involving other biases?

		Comments Sort by date Sort by rating Rating
		2 Paramathmuni srinivas Kumar India
	Relying on Lobbying Instead of Facts in Decision-making While I was working in a construction firm at Doha, Qatar, I was asked to supervise the reports of t... Sign up

		3 Anonymous
	Facts and Figures not Used in Decisions I have seen this kind of behavior in many of my seniors. Facts and figures don't appeal to them when... Sign up

		1 Yochanan Kirschenboim Director, Israel
	Character is the Main Issue Since I have had events like that, I noticed that when you have confidence and you know and believe ... Sign up

		1 Rahul Sinha Business Consultant, India
	One Needs to Stumble Upon it Yourself I have experienced a similar funny phenomenon too that when you share or state something you know or... Sign up

		2 Meheresh Management Consultant, India
	Bias Story #2: the Man, the Boy, and the Donkey (Aesop Fables) Here's another funny story… A man and his big son were once going with their donkey to a market. As... Sign up

		1 Heba Strategy Consultant, United Arab Emirates
	Biases Sometimes Rule the Events @Yochanan Kirschenboim: I completely agree with your input Yochanan, I do that myself but it is all ... Sign up

		0 Heba Strategy Consultant, United Arab Emirates
	You Hurt Yourself by Paying that Much Attention to what Others Believe or Think About You @Meheresh: This is a clear example that no matter what would you do, you won't be able to satisfy al... Sign up

		1 Meheresh Management Consultant, India
	Stoic's Decision Making Algorithm @Heba: Please go through the stoic way of thinking. I leave it to you to explore more about "STOIC".... Sign up

		1 Yochanan Kirschenboim Director, Israel
	Do You Want to be a Manager? @Meheresh: Your nice parable shows that someone like him can never be a manager. A director who loo... Sign up

		1 Paramathmuni srinivas Kumar India
	Listen to what Others Say, Without Hastening Analyze to Find the Truth Being insensitive to what being said is also not good I suppose... One should listen and analyze wha... Sign up

		3 Maurice Hogarth Consultant, United Kingdom
	Sense and Sensibility As the opening story indicates, some people would rather work on the basis of their own stupidity (d... Sign up

		3 Heba Strategy Consultant, United Arab Emirates
	Story #3 About Biases A father is about to bring his son to a job interview applying for a position at a large financial s... Sign up