The Not So Rational Programmer
summary
Cognitive biases cause concrete decision failures: confirmation bias, mere exposure, false consensus and groupthink create bad hires, wrong frameworks and echo-chamber architecture choices. Concrete countermeasures include sticky-note opinion collection to capture independent options, scoring against objective criteria before evaluation, appointing a rotating devil’s advocate, separating evaluator and decision-maker, and inviting outside experts. These tactics reduce blind spots, surface alternatives and measurably improve team decisions rather than just rephrasing the problem.
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chapters (24)
- 0:00Introduction
- 0:26Questions
- 1:54The Problem
- 3:01Rational Programmers
- 3:39The Human Brain
- 4:24Cognitive Bias
- 5:43Recognition Perception
- 10:20Confirmation Bias
- 11:50Confirmation Bias Example
- 13:50Countering Confirmation Bias
- 15:02The Mere Exposure Effect
- 15:32Cognitive Ease
- 16:08Cognitive Strain
- 18:25Mere Exposure Effect
- 19:55Decision Making in Teams
- 20:47False Consensus
- 23:08Dominant Opinionator
- 24:15False Consensus Effect
- 26:11Groupthink
- 28:44Three factors
- 30:39Encourage critical evaluation
- 33:54Recap
- 35:20Its okay to change your opinion
- 36:14Daniel Kahneman
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