Cognitive inertia - difficulty in changing our minds
Summary
- The word 'inertia' was coined by Johannes Kepler from the Latin for “unskillfulness, ignorance; inactivity or idleness.”
- It refers to resistance to change, especially in motion. However, it can also apply to resistance to change mentally.
- The heavier an object is, the harder it is to change it's speed.\
- The faster we are moving, the harder it is to stop
- Hence, Newton's first law of motion: "A body remains at rest, or in motion at a constant speed in a straight line, except insofar as it is acted upon by a force."
Details
- Mentally, we also face inertia - it is difficult to change our opinions or ideas, especially if we have held them for a long time.
- We may hold Confirmation Bias where we only accept proof that verifies what we currently believe.
- Sometime, this is positive for us. Questioning everything all the time would be exhausting and time consuming. So once we have made a decision it makes sense to stick with it for a while.
- However, once there is proof that a decision is poor (bank we use? investment decision?) it makes sense to change