In this excerpt of Wiser, neuropsychiatrist Dilip V. Jeste points out that “we are all subject to cognitive biases” (Jeste 147) that might result in memory, judgment, and logical issues, and therefore we need to think thoroughly to avoid them. Specifically, our decisions may not be the most accurate when we only focus on successful cases, fear losing too much, defend whatever we own, stick to what comes first to our minds, practice confirmation biases, are influenced by age, “experience,” and socioeconomic status, make decisions only when it seem to matter, stick with something due to existing and excess effort, or are impacted by current emotions. I recall one reading article in my other class presented this idea: it is the “creative tension” between our current reality and vision that pushes us to do things towards our goal. In order to formulate that creative tension, we ought to know our current reality very well (Senge 195). Knowing what we are skillful at and our current characteristics may be potentially problematic. In my experience, that “potentially problematic” part is tough to find due to its “hiding” qualities. Like how my submitted essays look great to me, but after discussing with anyone else I would discover some elements in the essay that can be improved. I feel that sometimes our potential weaknesses hide too well from us, but we are not expected to make tremendous progress without finding them. These cognitive biases are part of those hiding characteristics that are hard to discover. 

 

“How to deal with regret and forgive yourself for making imperfect decisions” by psychology professor Jelena Kecmanovic illustrates the better mindsets and solutions to face regrets. Professor Kecmanovic states that making decisions based on “insufficient information” and “uncertainty” induces regret after the matter, which can, in turn, lead to “shame, anger and depression” (Kecmanovic). Without practicing to perceive feelings without judgments, reducing unhealthy ways of thinking, knowing everybody could make mistakes, and trying to fix the matter, the regret will not be “productive” in fostering learning going forward. I think this article is beneficial to breaking a “Möbius strip” that sometimes bothers me: regretting leading to being afraid to reproduce that regret in the future, and then leads to hesitation when making a decision (Will this decision lead to regrets? Is it the right one to make?), and in return cause inefficiency and future regrets. Now that I think about it after reading Kecmanovic’s article: making mistakes isn’t that scary. Making a big mistake while I am 20 is much better than making that same mistake when I am 40 and have a whole family behind me and all kinds of other responsibilities. As Kecmanovic illustrates in the article, the most important thing is learning from regrets and making them “productive.”

 

I think one cognitive bias I possess is “focusing on winners” but not realizing their stories is just how they want to make themselves look cool in front of the public. For example, leaders like Elon Musk and Steve Jobs may not be very nice to their employees. Obsessed by their other core values, sometimes their bad temper may seem justifiable. However, so many leaders behaved like them, and their companies went bankrupt!