Category: Bias
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Survivorship Bias
In the early post-pandemic era, I was sitting in the synagogue (shul) one Saturday morning, at least 2 seats away from anyone else, my face covered by a mask. A hint of normalcy was beginning to return, and the Rabbi posed a question to the small number of congregants seated in front of him: Would […]
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Anchoring
We like to think we are smarter than we are, as Daniel Kahnemann famously said, “Our comforting conviction that the world makes sense rests on a secure foundation: our unlimited ability to ignore our ignorance.” We like to think that we are above being caught out by ‘gimmicks’ and ‘tricks’, but in truth, the very […]
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The Winner’s Curse
Auctions are particularly interesting from both an economic standpoint and a psychological one. Case in point, on a recent episode of BBC’s Homes Under the Hammer, two guys – Steven and Simon bought a property at auction. The property was in relatively good condition but needed some work done. The catalogue guide price for the […]