A while back, we took some time to explain l ogical fallacies to Mennonites . Today, we’re going to look at something a little different: cognitive biases. These are the psychological shortcuts your mind takes that can lead to errors in perception and decision making. Should be helpful at the next elder board meeting. Let’s have a look at a few of them yet.

anchoring bias – this is how people tend to focus too much, or get hooked, on the first piece of information they receive. So, say, Mr. Plett is trying to buy some chickens from that nice Hutterite lady in the parking lot at the Co-ops. Mr. Plett asks her “how much yet for the chickens?” Mrs. Waldner is smart, so she starts high, “$23” she says. Now that $23 has been anchored in Mr. Plett’s mind, they negotiate back and forth and e

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