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[–]zyxzevn 5 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I often add "expert bias"
Like in: "Astrologers believe that astrology is very useful".
Or: "If you worked with a hammer all your life, everything looks like a nail".

I often encounter experts (=scientists) in a field that are used to do things a certain way. They are also believing that it is the best way. They have lost critical thinking on why did they do it that way in the first place. Often it is not even correct.

The easiest example is "magnetic reconnection" which is the connecting of magnetic field lines. It is supposed to produce a lot of energy. In reality, in basic physics, magnetic field lines do not even exist. So somewhere along the line, something clearly went wrong. This is also what the related Nobel-prize winner told them. Yet this theory is unquestioned and criticism is not allowed. It even has become a basis for certain theories in astronomy. Which are very easy to debunk, if you are allowed to speak about it.

The consequence of this bias error is great, as it even links to climate models.

The expert-bias could be seen as a combination of almost all of the above biases, but I like to take it separate. It is very common and people often forget about it.


I don't think placebo-effect is a bias.