
How Your Brain Lies to You: Everyday Cognitive Biases Explained
Our Brains Lie to Us: Exploring Common Cognitive Biases In a recent TikTok video, animator Zuno (@snappybits2) uses engaging animation to explain common cognitive biases. The video highlights how our brains often misinterpret information, leading to inaccurate perceptions of reality. One example is the "mirror image" deception, where we see a horizontally flipped version of ourselves. Zuno explains, "Mirrors flip your image horizontally; the face you see isn't what others see." This simple illustration demonstrates how our familiarity with our reflection can lead to a skewed self-perception. Another example is the "frequency illusion," or Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. After learning a new word, we suddenly seem to encounter it everywhere. The video explains this is not because the word has suddenly become more frequent, but because our brain is now actively looking for it. This illustrates how our attention can create the illusion of patterns where none exist. The video also explores survivorship bias, where we focus on success stories and ignore failures, leading to unrealistic expectations. It concludes by discussing the Forer effect, where vague statements are perceived as highly accurate due to our brain's tendency to seek personal meaning. The video's engaging style makes complex psychological concepts easily understandable, highlighting the importance of critical thinking and awareness of our own cognitive biases.