Psychological Biases and how to wield them

Loss aversion refers to where individuals have a stronger preference for avoiding losses than acquiring gains of equivalent value. This means that people tend to feel the pain of losing more than the pleasure of gaining, and as a result, they often act in ways to minimize potential losses.

This is why people get angry with loans, sure it was only '50p' to you, but it was my 50p!

To lesson the effect of this bias imagine that everything you own is on loan (from the universe, god or whatever you want, it doesn't matter who the real 'owner is'). When you eventully do 'lose' it just tell yourself that you're giving it back to (Inset owner here). This works for objects as well as relationships and people themselves. You've been gifted with all these things, but only for a limited time, one day everything you have will be returned.

Status quo bias is the tendency to prefer things to remain as they are and to resist change. People often exhibit status quo bias in decision-making because change can be perceived as threatening, even if it is ultimately for the better.

We live in the illusion that doing nothing isn't a choice, it is. You don't get to make no choices. You can do something and open up the possibility to infinite futures or you can do nothing, grow older and have nothing to show for it. When you're old and grey what choice would you want yourself to make now?

The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which individuals with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. This occurs because individuals with low ability often lack the metacognitive skills necessary to accurately assess their own abilities. As a result, they may perceive themselves as more skilled or knowledgeable than they actually are.

Remind yourself that you could be wrong. Even experts are wrong, sometimes. Having the humility to admit that you could be wrong, will stop you being overconfident and in turn stop The Dunning-Kruger Effect from being any worse than it needs to be, when it does affect your decision making.

The hot-cold empathy gap refers to the phenomenon in which people find it difficult to understand or predict their own emotional responses in different situations. The "hot" state refers to a situation in which someone is experiencing strong emotions, such as anger or fear. The "cold" state refers to a situation in which someone is in a more neutral or rational state, such as when making a decision.

In any situation we'll act differently based on how we feel. This can be due to our emotions being part of our animal brain, they kick in before we process what's going on and because we're not conscious of what's going on our actions can surprise us.

I'm happy with the progress I'm making. It still needs a lot of work, but the first draft doent need to be perfect thats what the later drafts are for.