Self-Check list for Charlie T. Munger's Psychology of Human Misjudgment. Use this list to check if your decision making is being affected by any of these fallacies. Based on Poor Charlie's Almanach book

1. Psychology of Human
Misjudgement
Self-Check List

2. What is this?
• Before making an important decision go over
this list to see if you are falling as a victim to any
of the fallacies of human misjudgement
• This collection is based on Charles T. Munger’s
Psychology of Human Misjudgment essay
• Check out the book: Poor Charlie’s Almanach!

3. Reward and Punishment
• Who has what incentives?
• Are they aligned?
• What are the positive and negative incentives
that are shaping this situation for any of the
parties involved?

4. Liking Loving
• Is there any liking or loving and association that
can skew decision making?
• Anything from the past / or association that
makes you like an outcome more than an other?

5. Disliking / Hating
• Is there any disliking or hating and association
that can skew decision making?
• Anything from the past / or association that
makes you dislike something about an outcome?

6. Doubt Avoidance
• Do you just quickly want to jump to a conclusion
to ease the decision making, save energy and
time?

7. Inconsistency - Avoidance
• Do you act in a specific way because you don’t
want to break the image what you have built?
• Are there any actions in your past that solidified
your image in front of others that you try to live up
to?
• Any past decisions that pointed one way?
• Be brave to change your mind, if new information
came along.

8. Curiosity
• Curiosity increases productivity by bringing extra
motivation!
• Are there anything like that on any sides?
• Can you utilize curiosity to make the decision
making more effective?

9. Kantian Fairness
• People should deal with others as they expect
others to treat them.
• Are you dealing this way?

10. Envy Jealousy
• Is there any jealousy in the situation?

11. Reciprocity
• Is there any pressure to reciprocate what you
were given?

12. Influence from Association
• Are you associating the thing with something
that makes you believe something? (eg. high
price = high quality; past success = current
situation)
• Liking / disliking
• Stereotypes

13. Pain Avoidance
• Are you closing your eyes to avoid pain?

14. Excessive Self Regard
• Do you have a too strong liking towards your
own product, person, or idea that skews
decision making?
• Hiring decisions, ideas
• Are you thinking objectively about yourself and
about your possessions?

15. Overoptimism
• Are you using probability theory to assess the
real chances?
• Or you are overoptimistic? or over pessimistic?

16. Deprival Super Reaction
• The loss of the same amount gives more pain,
than the gain of the same amount
• Prospect Theory
• Overreacting to possible losses
• Not acting to prevent losses?
• Not using your energy to gain the same
amount?

17. Social Proof
• Doing something because others do it?
• Because other’s approve it?
• Other’s don’t show concern?
• Don’t do something because others don’t do it?
• Recognize and ignore these pressures.
• Hang out with people who give you the values you
need.

18. Comparison Contrast
• Anchoring.
• Are you looking at the thing with fresh eyes or are
you skewed by a recent thing you can compare
to?
• this is not that bad, compared to the previous
one. but is it the right ONE?
• It’s not that expensive compared to the previous
one or other thing.

19. Availability - Misweighting
• Are you thinking that something that is easily
available to the mind is more important than
something that is not?
• Fears, and extremes are very deeply
memorized. (media pushes stuff in you)
• Is it actually real? or

20. Use it or lose it
• Man with a hammer tendency? People tend to
see things through their own filters, and solve
problems based on what skills they have.
• Using the skills that are important? or losing
them
• Use checklists to asses things and don’t forget
mental tools.

21. Drug Misfluence
• Under the effect of drugs?

22. Senescence
• Old people mentally decay…
• Effect of this on outcome?

23. Authority
• People who seem authorities shape decisions?
• Listening to them only because they are pro?
• or logical reasons

24. Twaddle
• People who have no idea say things that can
interfere with other people who matter.
• Are you listening to people who matter?
• Are you filtering our opinions successfully that
don’t matter?

25. Reason Respecting
• Tell people who does what where and WHY
• WHY is really important.
• “Please let me in the line, because I have to
use the copier!”
• Giving non-sense reason, it still works.

26. Loollapalooza
• Multiple tendencies point the same way:
• Creates a super powerful push and motivation!