281: Cognitive Biases

The boys drink and review a fresh hop IPA from Stone Brewing, then discuss common biases in the way we think.  Cognitive biases are examples of ways in which our brains can point us down a non-rational path. But why do we have these biases? Why did they evolve?  Could it be that there are situations where it's better not to be rational?  The boys discuss as they review the following examples.  * Reactance * The framing effect * The availability heuristic * The sunk cost fallacy * Groupthink * Declinism * Self-serving bias  * The Placebo effect  * In-group bias  * The halo effect  * The curse of knowledge  * Anchoring  * Confirmation bias It's good to be aware of these departures from strictly rational thinking, but it's also good to be aware of why we have them in the first place.