How To Avoid Getting Conned!

 ‘Bhaiyya,’ said Rahul on their Zoom meeting. ‘Rinku and I visited this shop where they offered her a free sample of chocolate. In return she bought a ton of stuff she didn’t really want simply because of that free sample. She always gets conned like this.’

‘Ah, Reciprocity,’ said Rakesh. ‘There are many such errors we make routinely that are listed in a book by Rolf Dobelli called ‘The Art of Thinking Clearly’. In Reciprocity for example, we feel obliged to repay a perceived debt and end up paying up a lot more in return for a small gesture. Consider this. A person wishes you daily for a year. One day he asks you for a loan. You feel he’s nice,don’t want to hurt him,give him the money and he disappears with the money.We’re set up, hope against our better judgement and lose big. People who understand human tendencies use such knowledge to influence our behaviours.’

‘Wow,’ said Rinku. ‘What other such errors do we make bhaiyya? You could save me a lot of money.’

‘The most common technique is ‘Framing’, where one aspect is highlighted or framed,thereby influencing behaviours,’ said Rakesh. ‘A statement like “Vaccine A has 20% side effects”, will be received negatively, while “80% success rate for Vaccine A”, will be seen positively, though they’re both saying the same thing.We remember the framed part and react accordingly.’

‘Advertisements do that,’said Rahul. ‘But we all do that don’t we bhaiyya?’

‘Yes, we do,’ said Rakesh. ‘Take first impressions for example.From dating to interviews to presentations, we all present the good stuff upfront to influence others favourably. It’s called the Primacy Effect. It can get you into a relationship because the profile picture is good. That said, we also tend to get biased by the last or most recent information we’ve received–in what’s called the Recency effect. Like watching a boring movie that got good reviews because of a good ending.’

‘In effect,’ said Rahul. ‘Our opinions and decisions are influenced by beginnings and endings be it in stories, movies, lectures, presentations, relationships etc. Hmm, we can use this to our advantage.’

‘Wow,’ said Rinku. ‘How do we prevent these errors bhaiyya?’

‘Being aware helps,’ smiled Rakesh. ‘Don’t accept free samples if you feel obliged to repay. Consider what’s not shown and get complete information. Don’t make impulsive decisions based on first and last impressions. Think clearly and eliminate bias before deciding.’

‘Thanks bhaiyya,’said Rahul. ‘We’ll watch out for cognitive errors like Reciprocity, Framing, Primacy and Recency effects etc. Could save us a lot of money and trouble.’

Pro Tip: We’re prone to succumb toroutine biases that cloud our judgement. Being aware of them can help you decide better and also help you to influence others favourably.

 

44.   HOW WE FOOL OURSELVES

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