Cognitive Bias and Allowing
Negative Thoughts To Live
Rent-free In Your Head
I talk a great deal about the importance of paying attention to what we pay attention to in The Fun Factor. It's because we've been trained to think in a particular way, leading us to less-then-happy or fun way of thinking. I'm going to talk about why that happens and what we must do about it.
A cognitive bias is a type anomaly in thinking that occurs when a person's judgments tend to be influenced by their own personal preferences, beliefs, or feelings. For example, someone might judge a new product to be better than it is because they want it to be successful. Or, more dangerously, they feel inferior because that thought has been taught to them over the years.
One of the most common cognitive biases is something called confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is when a person accepts or and interprets information (be it news stories, statistical data or the opinions of others) that already supports the beliefs they already have.
Cognitive neuroscientists and psychologists tend to favor a different account where (most) cognitive biases are not hard-wired in the human brain but acquired because of the way the human mind engages with its environment. Parents, schools, media, teachers, family, friends, etc. Everybody, in some way, takes a role in how our biases are shaped. Sadly, when it's most important to filter out the bad thoughts we're too young to know the difference.
Cognitive bias is a real thing. We are generally unaware of just how much it molds us and how much we use it to make choices. This is why it is critical that we involve ourselves in the choices that we make so that we can begin to fine-tune those biases towards a more healthy and wholesome set of future choices.
I will give you an interesting example of how cognitive biases can work to make us feel inferior, and then a potential greater level of sadness or even depression. Consider social media. You can read countless posts from people you know and those who don't. They express wonderful things about themselves, their activities, what they eat, their successes and accomplishments. Then, on the other hand, you see social media being used to express massive amounts of negativity. The result of all this information is the feeling of inferiority, anger and negativity. There are countless studies validating this behavior. Yet, we continue to scroll. It is very rare that something positive comes out of this sort of mindless and unhealthy scrolling. First, it takes you away from the emphasis and focus on creating a better you. You might say that it's simple entertainment. but don't be fooled. You're being hurt by it.
Second, social media exposes you to a huge amount of information that reinforces a negative cognitive bias. It's critical that you recognize this and pay attention to it. Too much negativity goes a heck of a long way.
Finally, the opposite of acquiring all that negativity through senseless scrolling is the consequence that you're retraining your head to accept positivity. Paying attention to positivity in an intentional way will begin to change your cognitive bias. This is a critical element of making you a more successful and happy human being.
So the conclusion is this: Pay attention to what you pay attention to. Take an active role in only letting thoughts that matter into your head. Don't let anybody or anything or any thought live rent free in your head. Make sure that everything that goes in there deserves to be there. It's not a hard task, but it does take some attention, no pun intended.