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prase comments on Living bias, not thinking bias - Less Wrong
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No, I read the grandparent, and I doubt I have such a definition.
Yes, people smoke cigarettes, and let's assume for the sake of argument that it counts as "significantly harmful". Now imagine (hypothetically) that the same mechanism of thought also causes them to pursue lifestyles that grant them an overall 20% increase in healthy lifespan as compared to nonsmokers. In that scenario, the bias that causes smoking cigarettes is not "significantly harmful on average".
Now consider another hypothetical where people smoke cigarettes due to their biases, and other people without those biases have a significantly higher incidence of being run over by buses. Then, the biases that cause smoking cigarettes are not "significantly harmful on average" as compared to the alternative.
I see you assuming exactly what taw claims we're assuming. I don't see you citing any empirical studies showing that it is the case.
In addition to what others said (hypothetical examples are irrelevant for actual reality), it is not clear to what you compare the biases. What does "the same thought mechanism mean" in this case? Thought mechanisms don't have clear boundaries. If some pattern of thought is beneficial in some situations and harmful in others, we are free to call "bias" only its harmful applications.