9 mind games your brain plays on you

july 1, 2025

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Our brain is constantly taking shortcuts to expedite decision-making. However, being aware of these biases can help us overcome these mind games.

It is a phenomenon where people recall something that didn’t happen or recall a distorted version of events. Trauma, stress, anxiety, emotions, etc, can influence memories.

False memories

This is a tendency to assume that one knew the outcome of an event before it had occurred. For example, after a cricket match, a fan might insist they knew which team would win beforehand.

Hindsight bias

It's a consistent and persistent discrepancy between how we perceive something and its true nature. For instance, in the Ponzo illusion, two parallel lines appear to converge.

Perceptual Illusions

It's the tendency to focus more on the negative aspects of an experience than on the positives. For example, despite receiving multiple compliments, a person might focus on a negative comment.

Negative biases

This is when our overall positive perception of a person (or brand) is based on a single, often positive trait. For example, a physically attractive person is assumed to possess other positive traits, such as superior intelligence.

Halo effect

This is the opposite of the halo effect, it's a cognitive bias where we judge a person (brand or product) negatively based on a single negative trait. 

Horn effect

Our brain tends to find patterns or connections that don’t exist. Seeing faces in clouds is an example of pareidolia, the visual form of apophenia. It's rooted in the brain’s inclination to find order.

Apophenia

It’s a bias that makes people believe they’re the centre of attention more than they really are. It's rooted in the brain’s natural self-centredness.

Spotlight effect

Also known as the frequency phenomenon, it's when you start noticing something new you learnt everywhere. It’s due to the brain’s tendency to find patterns.

Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon

9 lessons on biases from Clear Thinking by Shane Parrish

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