Cognitive bias - what it is, and how it cripples foresight

Your brain is beautiful.

And sometimes, it tricks you.

You think you see a beautiful young woman looking over her right shoulder (image above). But wait, it's an old woman with her chin buried in her coat collar, isn't it?

Both are true.

When faced with something new or ambiguous, we often don't see things as they are. We see them as we are. New images or ideas glide over well-worn neural pathways and if they don't connect to something we already know, our brain ignores them.

This "system 1" or "fast thinking" makes our brains efficient, but it also prevents us from seeing signals of the future that are all around us.

To see what's possible next year or the next decade, futurists must consciously recondition their minds to be open to new or ambiguous information.

Enjoy the blog, you big-brained beauty.

Read: Bias is an Innovation Killer
See: The Cognitive Bias Codex