Why do intelligent, rational people make decisions that make absolutely no sense? Why do we search for evidence that confirms what we already believe, trust something simply because it feels familiar, or keep investing in a bad decision because we’ve already invested so much? Cognitive biases aren’t signs that we’re stupid—they’re shortcuts built into the way human minds process an impossibly complicated world. They help us make decisions quickly, navigate uncertainty and function without analysing every piece of information we encounter. But those same shortcuts can quietly distort reality, influence our relationships and convince us we’re being perfectly logical while doing something remarkably irrational.

In this fascinating and judgement-free discussion, we’ll explore some of the cognitive biases hiding in everyday life, why they exist, when they help us and when they lead us badly astray. From love and friendship to money, work, arguments and the way we judge complete strangers, you’ll examine situations where your brain may be doing far more behind the scenes than you realise. Rather than learning a list of psychological terms, we’ll use these ideas as lenses for understanding real human behaviour, including our own. Come ready to question your assumptions, share your experiences and perhaps leave with a little more humility about your own mind, and a little more understanding of everyone else’s.

为什么聪明、理性的人会做出完全说不通的决定？为什么我们会去找那些能证实自己已有信念的证据？为什么会仅仅因为某样东西感觉熟悉就相信它？为什么会因为已经投入了太多，就继续在一个糟糕的决定上死磕？认知偏差并不是我们蠢的证据——它们是人类大脑处理一个复杂到不可能处理的世界时，内置的捷径。它们帮我们快速做决定、应对不确定性，让我们不用分析遇到的每一条信息就能正常运转。但同样的捷径，也可能悄悄扭曲现实、影响我们的人际关系，还让我们在做着极不理性的事时，坚信自己逻辑满分。

在这场有趣且不带评判的讨论中，我们会探索一些藏在日常生活中的认知偏差，看看它们为什么存在、什么时候帮了我们、什么时候又把我们带偏。从爱情、友情到金钱、工作、争论，以及我们怎么评判完全陌生的人，你会审视那些你的大脑可能在幕后做了远超你想象的事情的情境。我们不会去背一串心理学名词，而是把这些概念当作理解真实人类行为的镜头，包括我们自己的行为。准备好质疑你的假设、分享你的经历，也许走的时候，你会对自己的大脑多一点谦逊，对别人的大脑多一点理解。