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| (photo credit) |
We
just don't climb it very gracefully,
and
don't end up where we'd like.
Before diving into additional cognitive biases, let's take a look at how we can put them into perspective by considering the Ladder of Inference. (We named the Hindsight Bias as our first in the CranioRectal Inversion (CRI) that results from falling into their trappings. Honestly, I intended no pun when I wrote that post and created the image!) Think of the Ladder as a section in the toolbox for cultivating safety in recovery from trauma, and you may choose to tuck cognitive biases neatly into it.
My choice of examples and especially the pictures that accompany each to follow post won't represent a complex interpretation of each bias. I hope to kickstart thought and self-awareness. I like the ladder which I've adapted to illustrate how we take in information which eventually leads to action. (If anyone notices that I've created more ambiguity by using a poor illustration, please let me know. But know that I might ask you to write a guest post for the benefit of us all.)
If you look at the Ladder of Inference, starting at the bottom with rung #1, we begin with stark, objective, hard reality. The “just the facts, Ma'am” phrase from Dragnet gives us an excellent example of what we might hope to start with – as though what happens around us were recorded for future reference. Jack Webb's character on the show aims directly at avoiding cognitive bias. It might be worth watching an old episode or two to help appreciate the process.
Your
Side, My Side, and the Truth
The
second rung points out the trappings of attention and the information
that we “select” to tuck away in our memories. This is a
complicated and vast subject, but there's an amusing and effective
way of demonstrating the way our attention limits what we observe in
a given situation. Think about the way a manipulator might take
advantage of a situation to exploit this tendency as you watch.
I offer you CranioRectal Inversion #2:
Inattentional
Blindness illustrates well just one of many the biases that
affect us when we take in information. But that's just the start of
the process as we venture further up the Ladder of Inference. Read more in Part II HERE.
For Further Reading:
- One of the $3 Kindle books about Cognitive Bias at Amazon.com
- Arglyis' Reasoning, Learning, and Action
- Nadler's Leadership with Emotional Intelligence
- Chabris & Simons' The Invisible Gorilla
- Gilovich, Griffin & Kahneman's Heuristics and Biases
- Robert Cialdini's Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
- Judith Herman's Trauma and Recovery
