This article is part of an ongoing series that began with Fallacies and Cognitive Biases.
The above picture is a detail from "50 Cognitive Biases to be aware of so you can be the very best version of you"
"Our failures are situational but our successes are our responsibility."
This cognitive bias occurs when we attribute our success to ourselves & our failures to outside forces. When it works I'm a genius. When it fails those clowns sent me low-quality tools.
On the face of it this cognitive bias has no value. It's basically lying to make ourselves feel better, right? Let's dig under the surface.
Aside from the fact that success & failure are frequently subjective, both success and failure contain a portion of responsibility and luck. The Self-Serving Bias paints the rosiest interpretation of each event.
Unlike the cognitive biases which focus on managing risk, the Self-Serving Bias promotes risk-taking by incorrectly attributing results either to oneself (if good) or outside forces (if bad).
What value does that provide?
Risk management is good for preserving gains but risk must be taken to get those gains in the first place. The Self-Serving Bias works towards that end by introducing irrational self confidence.
Irrational self confidence turns out to be good for even more than originally advertised. It gives its possessor an outsized estimation of his abilities. His self-image is false in a way that can provide real benefits.
Either a man can succeed at a task or he can not. Either he believes he can or he does not.
If a man believes he can he might attempt.
If a man doesn't believe he can he won't try whether he can or not.
Because of our imperfect knowledge of the world we don't know what we are capable of doing. We learn by trying. Confidence allows a man to learn faster by trying more, providing education and eventual rewards to himself and to his network.
The Self-Serving Bias helps men take risks instead of playing things too safe.
When risks are minor they will pay off in the long run.
When risks are large there is no value in being reticent anyway. The gutsy man may succeed but the coward will always fail.
If you're going to die anyway why not have irrational self confidence?
Errata: Risks are cheaper where then is less to loose or more to gain. Youth has less knowledge of what works, little accrued wealth to protect, much strength to draw upon, and more future in which to recover losses. The aged are in the reverse situation. It is reasonable that the young would take more risks in order to achieve while the old take fewer risks in order to maintain. Thus bravado is the domain of the young and mastery the domain of the old.
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