Cognitive bias is a “systematic error in judgment and decision making common to all human beings, which can be due to cognitive limitations, motivational factors, and/or adaptations to natural environments.”1 Some of the logical fallacies discussed earlier in this book can be a source of cognitive bias, such as interpreting correlation as causation in the Affirming the Consequent fallacy. Other sources are covered in some of the Think Better sections (see the discussion on Behavioral Economics). But could another source be the very evolutionary processes that created us homo sapiens?
Having a comprehensive understanding of all these sources of cognitive biases helps us develop “epistemic humility,” which is being humble about the knowledge we think we possess, and which is a necessary requirement for being a good critical thinker.
The remainder of this section is excerpted from Kevin deLaplante’s discussion of cognitive biases, which can be found on his Critical Thinking Academy website.2 We include it in our book because it is an excellent and relevant discussion of this subject matter.
Additionally, at various points in this section, we include shaded sidebar discussions focusing on how deLaplante’s article relates to critical thinking in marketing.
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