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Why Everyone Else Is an Idiot
But you’re just having a bad day
You’re late to work. Again.
As you sneak into the conference room, avoiding eye contact with your notoriously crotchety boss, your brain’s already machine-gunning a litany of perfectly reasonable explanations.
Bad traffic.
Your kid couldn’t find their science project.
The coffee maker broke.
You forgot your umbrella.
Thankfully, your boss never asks. He just glowers.
Right after you take your seat, your colleague also sneaks in. Your boss starts to look a little like a thwarted Yosemite Sam:
And you know what? He’s right to be angry.
Sarah’s always late and this is just classic. She’s so irresponsible. She probably stayed up binge-watching Succession again.
The Actor / Observer bias
Welcome to the actor/observer bias, a cognitive bias that’ll poison your relationships, sabotage your career, and keep you stuck in the same danged patterns year on year on year.
Back in 1971, Edward Jones and Richard Nisbett reported a series of experiments that would fundamentally change how we understand interpersonal judgment. Their…
