**Plant a fake number to make the real number seem better.** Beware of **anchoring effects**, which are why you think you got a bargain if you paid too much money for an item because it was “discounted” from a ludicrously high price. Anchoring effects show up in places where they obviously shouldn't apply, such as rolling dice then guessing a percentage of teenagers who have skipped school in the past month. # Unrelated Anchors are Still Anchors Affects occur even if the anchor number is knowingly, and obviously not related to the thing you are supposed to be guessing. In one experiment, people spun a wheel then guessed what fraction of the United Nations were African. People who spun a "10" guessed 25% were, people who spun a "65" thought that 45% of nations were. Anchoring effects can be measured by the amount that somebody would change their guess in an anchored situation as compared to counterparts who didn't have the anchor. Next time you interview for a job and discuss salary, make a joke about making $8 million/year before getting to brass tax. **** # More ## Source - [[Thinking Fast and Slow]] ## Related - [[Systems 1 & 2]]