Archive
A collection of past ideas, ready to revisit
Does the first number you hear shape your final decision?
Anchoring bias is our tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information we encounter when making decisions. When you see a price crossed out showing $100 then $49, you anchor to $100 and perceive $49 as a bargain—even if $49 is the actual fair price. Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky demonstrated this in the 1970s through experiments where random numbers influenced estimates of quantities. This bias affects negotiations, valuations, and judgments across domains. Even when we know anchors are arbitrary, they unconsciously influence our thinking.
Why do we waste resources defending past bad choices?
The sunk cost fallacy is our irrational tendency to continue investing in something because of previously invested resources that cannot be recovered. If you've paid $50 for a movie ticket but the film is terrible, continuing to watch wastes your time—yet many do exactly this because they've 'already paid.' Psychologist Richard Thaler popularized this concept in the 1980s. The fallacy occurs because we treat past investments as reasons for future decisions, though logically, only future costs and benefits should matter. Recognizing sunk costs are irrelevant is crucial for rational decision-making.
Does familiarity breed fondness or just repetition comfort?
The mere exposure effect is the psychological tendency to develop preferences for things simply because we are familiar with them. Hearing a song repeatedly makes you like it more, even if you initially disliked it. Psychologist Robert Zajonc demonstrated this in 1968 through experiments showing people prefer familiar Chinese characters to unfamiliar ones. The effect occurs with minimal conscious awareness—we simply like what we know. This has profound implications for marketing, relationships, and cultural preferences, explaining why repeated exposure increases liking across diverse stimuli.
Want to see more?
Sign in to unlock 7 more archived ideas