Thought Experiments
Each thought experiment drops you into a realistic decision. Make a choice, see if a cognitive bias pulled you one way, and understand why. No wrong answers — just honest insight into how your mind works.
Confirmation Bias
Favouring information that supports what we already believe.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Anchoring
Letting the first number or idea pull later judgement.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Availability Heuristic
Judging likelihood by what comes to mind most easily.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Dunning-Kruger Effect
Low skill can hide its own limits.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Loss Aversion
Losses feel stronger than equivalent gains.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Sunk Cost Fallacy
Past investment can trap future judgement.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Halo Effect
One positive trait can colour the whole picture.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Negativity Bias
Bad news often feels louder than good news.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Status Quo Bias
We often prefer things to stay the same.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Bandwagon Effect
Popularity can masquerade as truth.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Framing Effect
Presentation changes how a choice feels.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Self-Serving Bias
We credit ourselves for wins and the world for losses.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Regression to the Mean
Extreme outcomes often drift back toward average.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Overconfidence Effect
Confidence can outrun accuracy.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Optimism Bias
We often expect better outcomes for ourselves.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Projection Bias
We assume others see the world as we do.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Hindsight Bias
After the fact, events feel obvious.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Actor-Observer Bias
We explain our own behaviour differently from others'.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Decoy Effect
A third option can steer a choice.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Confirmation Cascade
Repeated agreement can drown out dissent.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Fundamental Attribution Error
We overestimate personality and underestimate situations.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Gambler's Fallacy
Past random events feel like they must balance out.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Curse of Knowledge
Once you know something, it is hard to imagine not knowing it.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Backfire Effect
Contradicting evidence can sometimes strengthen a belief.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Barnum Effect
Vague personal descriptions feel surprisingly accurate.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
IKEA Effect
We value what we help create.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Endowment Effect
Owning something makes it more valuable.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
Planning Fallacy
We underestimate how long things will take.
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
How thought experiments help
Knowing the name of a cognitive bias isn't enough. Real understanding comes from seeing the pattern in action — feeling the pull of a biased decision in a realistic context. These experiments are a safe space to explore your own thinking.