Essays

Cognitive Biases Essay

Part 1
I believe in God’s existence, right versus wrong, and what it means to be a good person. I acquired the belief of God’s existence in the church as a child, especially during Sunday school teachings since my parents were Christians. I believe that life would be meaningless without God. Living without God makes us hopeless. In one way or another, I am sure that God exists through my personal experience that I have developed with Him and others people’s perceptions. Several people in the bible have had direct experiences with God, such as Abraham and Moses. At his old age, together with his wife Sarah, Abraham was blessed with a son (Isaac). Scientifically, this has been seen to be impossible because after menopause, one cannot conceive a child. Moses had conversations with God to save the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. These experiences in the bible have made me a firm believer in God. Asking God to be my saviour makes me feel the same way. I cannot physically prove this that God is now part of my life, but as I continue to read the bible, I can comprehend who He is, and I can see how He has worked to make us be like Him.

Additionally, I believe in doing wrong and right. I can acquire this belief as I continue to experience part of life. Scientifically, wrong and right cannot be measured. My society has shaped what I believe to be wrong and right. For example, to decide what is wrong and right, I measure an action’s consequences and gut feeling. I have seen people stealing from each other, and if they are caught, they are severely punished. I’m afraid that’s not right because the consequence of the action has negative implications, thus influencing my perception of what is morally wrong and right.

I believe in being the right person, I acquired this belief from my religion and culture since childhood. The trait also relates to confirmation bias to which I am subject to. In this case, I tend to focus more on facts to support my viewpoint (Moore & Parker, 2017). Further, the confirmation bias enables me to think critically. As such, it is easier to adhere to actions that correspond with my religion and culture. At the same time, being a lousy person implies hurting myself and others. The experience of organisations (United Nations) helping people worldwide depicts that there is goodness in people. This has influenced me personally to practice goodness on others.

Part 2
These beliefs have made me have substantial implications on my morality, life views, destiny, and human nature. For example, morality is important when judging others. Ideally, I am subject to the belief bias that allows me to evaluate reasoning based on the truthful evidence. The bias also enables me to utilize critical thinking and make decisions made on criticality of arguments (Moore & Parker, 2017). Further, the belief bias makes form informed impressions of people. Believing in God has helped me to have a sense of control and also acceptance. Additionally, being good creates a surrounding where individuals are enthusiastic and motivated to be around, which is essential. It creates friendly relationships and comfort-ability.

How we think about certain events in life can result in cognitive bias; however, this enables us to process information quickly. Believing in God, morality, and being the right person can lead us to make inaccurate interpretations, judgments, and decisions.

Part 3
The bandwagon effect refers to acting or thinking in a similar manner to others. This effect is seen in my belief of God’s existence, wrong and right, and belief of being a good person. Looking at my background as a child, I jumped into believing this to fit in with my family and society shaping my perception.

Choice supportive bias refers to the act of remembering one thing as being better than it was. Looking at how I think, it is evident that I believed in God’s existence, morality, and being good, because I attribute positive characteristics in what I choose, and harmful effects to the ones I have not chosen to dictate the things I do.
Free essay samples and research paper examples available online are plagiarized. They cannot be used as your own paper, even a part of it. You can order a high-quality custom essay on your topic from expert writers:

Get Custom Essay on Any Topic

EffectivePapers.com is a professional essay writing service committed to writing non-plagiarized custom essays, research papers, dissertations, and other assignments of top quality. All academic papers are written from scratch by highly qualified essay writers. Just proceed with your order, and we will find the best academic writer for you!


Reference
Moore, B. N., & Parker, R. (2017). Critical thinking (12 ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.