Weekend Wrap-up #09 - Mumbai awakes to life and freedom

So this weeks wrap up covers the opening up of Mumbai - and on no better day than our Independence Day. But as we take this big step forward here are some CAUTIONS that Behavioral Science throws our way. Checking ourselves and our decisions keeping these in mind may just save us all some trouble.

Commitment Bias

Commitment bias is our tendency to continue to act according to the previous commitments we’ve made. It’s a reluctance to change our course of action once we’ve chosen it.

Once we decide to step out, it may be in our best interest to monitor the situation and alter our course of action in case we see reason to.

Action Bias

The action bias describes our tendency to favour action over inaction, even if there’s no evidence that it will lead to a better outcome than doing nothing would.

So just because we have been given the freedom to do a whole lot of things, we should not feel obligated to use these services.

Uniqueness

We prefer to think we are unique, and will react against forces that compromise our sense of individuality.

What does this have to do with our current situation? Well we need to ensure we don't see ourselves as being above the rules and suggestions being made as we venture into public spaces. We need to follow basic ethics when we decide to venture out.

Triviality

The law of triviality is an observation about the human tendency to devote a great deal of time to unimportant details while crucial matters go unattended. 

So as we sit gossiping in a train or fight over the popcorn not being cheesy enough, let us not forget about the pandemic and the safety precautions we are all very familiar with.


Illusion of Control 

The illusion of control describes how we believe we have greater control over events than we actually do.

The points says it all, as we mingle with hoards of other Mumbaikars, we cannot control what others do, it is hence all the more necessary that we keep complete control over what we do from masks to hand washing.

Overconfidence Effect

The overconfidence effect is observed when people’s subjective confidence in their own ability is greater than their objective performance.

The nothing will happen to me feeling albeit reduced may push us into rushing into situations which ideally should be tread into very carefully.


Not-Invented-Here Bias

This is the tendency to dismiss the ideas of others. 

So as we have we come up with our perfect plan to take on the pandemic, it is essential that we don't ignore what we are supposed to do in public spaces. Even if we don't think it matches up to our great ideas.

Social Norms

This is the tendency to follow what others do, the normal behaviour in a situation. 

This last caution is the most important one, as we see more and more people enjoying the freedom of unlockdown. Let us not just follow them blindly. At each step let us be cautious and do what we believe is truly safe.

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I am sharing my posting schedule herewith... do look out for topics that might interest you:

Tuesday: Regular posts under Intriguing Insights and Inexplicable Influences

Thursday: To BE or not to BE - Behavioural Economic (BE) terms and their popular explanations or definitions.

Sunday: Weekend Wrap-up where I select an event or incident from the week that was and analyse some aspect of it.

Last Saturday of every month: My monthly post in the Intellectual Imprints section