The Optimism Bias

Your Brain’s Illusions

If you think your brain accurately describes your experiences, you are mistaken. When Egyptian pilot Khadr Abdullah’s Boeing 737 suddenly turned toward the ground, he still believed he was flying upward, and he crashed. This happened because the brain doesn’t always supply accurate information to someone who is not on terra firma. As this example reveals, the brain comes equipped with many cognitive illusions. For example, the “superiority illusion” kicks in when your brain says you are the best in a number of areas – the best leader, best driver and best logical thinker. But that isn’t possible; “most people cannot be better than most people.” You don’t recognize your brain’s distortions, but you notice when others mistakenly think they are the best.

Your brain also suffers from an “introspection illusion.” You believe you control the way you think and feel about something, but you don’t. A Swedish research team presented people with pairs of photos of women. Each of the subjects chose the photo of the woman they found more attractive out of each pair. When the researchers gave the subjects the female portrait previously deemed less attractive...