Nov. 27, 2025

Ego Blindspots: Common cognitive distortions of the self - [Cognitive Biases #2]

Ego Blindspots: Common cognitive distortions of the self - [Cognitive Biases #2]

How ego and cognitive biases control our decisions and how to fight back

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Ever caught yourself defending a dumb idea just to look smart?

That's your ego controlling your brain. Cognitive biases and ego team up to screw your decisions daily.

Picture this: confirmation bias has you cherry-picking facts that stroke your self-image, while ego whispers you're too smart for mistakes. Spot the traps like Dunning-Kruger (overestimating skill) or sunk cost fallacy (throwing good money after bad).

Takehomes:

  • Point at one bias daily: "Am I ignoring counter-evidence like a muscly Irishman blocking the door?"

  • Test decisions: Can you drop it on your foot? If abstract, make it concrete now.

  • Audit ego weekly: List three "wins" that were actually luck—kill the illusion.

Hit play and arm yourself against yourself today.



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CHAPTERS

00:00 Spotlight Effect

02:07 Dunning Kruger Effect

04:25 Status Quo Bias

06:13 Curse of Knowledge

08:04 Cognitive Dissonance

10:17 The Halo Effect

13:54 Fundamental Attribution Error

16:01 Actor-Observer Bias

17:20 Self-Serving Bias

19:42 Hostile Attribution Bias

23:30 Don't blame other peoples behaviours

24:09 Don't get lost in our own world

27:09 These Biases exist for a reason

28:20 Don't get easily offended

29:01 Send Off

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