Tilt

We tend to overvalue intuition when avoiding risks and overestimate skills when taking them. This bias becomes even more apparent when the stakes are intangible or involve no material loss—we default to intuition, especially when the consequences of being wrong are perceived as insignificant. Conversely, when faced with decisions where there's skin in the game, where tangible outcomes or significant losses are at play, we lean heavily on skill—we suddenly go through a rigorous exercise of accessing the probable outcome. This skew reveals a deeper discomfort with risk-taking and decision-making. When there's no real consequence, intuition feels convenient, letting us circumvent critical thinking. But when tangibles are involved, we magically lean on our skills to minimize the downside. This appeal to surrender to the allure of intuition is further amplified by its close cousin: spirituality—more on this subject in my next art series on skew.