JoshuaZ comments on Living bias, not thinking bias - Less Wrong

19 Post author: crazy88 23 September 2011 08:30AM

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Comment author: taw 23 September 2011 01:50:23PM -1 points [-]

I'm not convinced biases are real in either me or anybody else in realistic situations, as opposed to highly artificial laboratory setting.

Here are two very extreme "biases" of perception - they're shocking the first time you see them, and even if you know about them you can do absolutely nothing to reduce their power:

In laboratory setting we can use such "biases" to manipulate people, and make them fail tests. But these same "biases" actually help more often than hinder in real life.

Is there any serious evidence that "biases" are significantly harmful on average in nonartificial settings? This is the big unspoken assumption, but evidence is lacking.

Comment author: JoshuaZ 23 September 2011 01:57:25PM 6 points [-]

The USSR relations + Poland invasion study shows that cognitive biases can substantially impact even experts in a field when making decisions. There are studies which show that doctors engage in the actual base rate fallacy.