We'd like to think we're rational, objective and logical beings. So why do we find ourselves recurrently making bad decisions, whether big or small?
The answer is that the human brain is subject to limitations, a kind of glitch in our thinking that can cause us to make questionable and erroneous conclusions.
Last year, the groundbreaking concept was effortlessly explained in International bestselling book The Art of Thinking Clearly by Swiss novelist and entrepreneur Rolf Dobelli, and now the book has been translated into an app to help us in our day-to-day lives.
Users of the The Art of Thinking Clearly app, launched on August 14th, are asked to answer a series of short questions based on the type of decision they are making, whether it's related to money, work, time or people in your life.
The app then suggests the routine mistakes you could me making - known as cognitive biases - which can be caused by mental shortcuts, social pressures, individual motivations, emotions and limits on the mind's ability to process information.
By knowing what these shortfalls are and how to spot them, users can avoid them and make better choices.
For example, if you want to buy a house, the app would offer all of the cognitive biases you should be aware of before you make a decision. One of these is The Endowment Effect, where a person will place more value on something they own – therefore selling prices of houses are often a reflection of what the owner is willing to sell for, rather than a reflection of their market value.
Much like the book, which sold over a million copies worldwide, the app also provides you with necessary techniques to achieve a goal, for example saving money.
The app costs £1.99 and is available on Apple, Kindle Fire, Samsung, Google Play, Nook, Windows and Blackberry
The Art of Thinking Clearly App will release on 14 August. Click here to download
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