--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Perhaps the most general and most…" description: "\"“Perhaps the most general and most important mental habit to instill is an appreciation of the folly of trying to draw conclusions from incomplete and ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/430/thomas-gilovich-10928_biased_perhaps-the-most-general-and-most-import_505596.jpg" --- # Perhaps the most general and most important mental habit… ![“Perhaps the most general and most important mental habit to instill is an appreciation of the folly of trying to draw conclusions from incomplete and unrepresentative evidence. An essential corrollary of this appreciation should be an awareness of how often our everyday experience presents us with…” quote by Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/430/thomas-gilovich-10928_biased_perhaps-the-most-general-and-most-import_505596.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/430/thomas-gilovich-10928_biased_perhaps-the-most-general-and-most-import_505596.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/430/thomas-gilovich-10928_biased_perhaps-the-most-general-and-most-import_505596.jpg) > ““Perhaps the most general and most important mental habit to instill is an appreciation of the folly of trying to draw conclusions from incomplete and unrepresentative evidence. An essential corrollary of this appreciation should be an awareness of how often our everyday experience presents us with biased samples of information.”” [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We must recognize the danger of drawing conclusions from limited, biased data and stay aware of everyday sampling bias. **In simple terms:** Beware of conclusions from incomplete evidence. Key Takeaway Question assumptions based on limited data. Themes critical thinking bias awareness epistemology Mood skeptical analytical Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - research - journalism - policy making - personal decisions Key Concepts cognitive bias sample bias scientific reasoning Questions to Reflect On - What evidence do you rely on? - How can you seek more representative data? A Different Perspective People often overestimate their knowledge despite biased experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Gratitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gratitude/) [Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) ## Related quotes > [If you allow your perceptions to be dominated by a status-quo perspective these thought forms create a network of status-quo mental habit patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/if-you-allow-your-perceptions-to-be-dominated-by-a-status-quo/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [“Hold any particular thought in the mind persistently until it has formed grooves in the brain-tissue and become dominant in the brain structure, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/hold-any-particular-thought-in-the-mind-persistently-until-it-has/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [Resistance is a result of our mind being attached to having things a certain way rather than the way they actually are. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-l-jampolsky/resistance-is-a-result-of-our-mind-being-attached-to-having-things-a/) [Lee L Jampolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-l-jampolsky/) > [“Some habits are internal, more than external. They live in our thought processes, our attitudes and our outlook. And if these mental habits go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarrid-wilson/some-habits-are-internal-more-than-external-they-live-in-our-thought/) [Jarrid Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarrid-wilson/) > [“It’s nothing more than a mental habit to idealize another time, another condition, another reality. It is simply a way to avoid the reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/it-s-nothing-more-than-a-mental-habit-to-idealize-another-time/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [Do you really need to mentally label every sense perception and experience? Do you really need to have a reactive like/dislike relationship with life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/do-you-really-need-to-mentally-label-every-sense-perception-and/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [But Doc had one mental habit he could not get over. When anyone asked a question, Doc thought he wanted to know the answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/but-doc-had-one-mental-habit-he-could-not-get-over-when-anyone-asked/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [If you get into the mental habit of relating what you're reading to the basic structure of the underlying ideas being demonstrated, you gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/if-you-get-into-the-mental-habit-of-relating-what-you-re-reading-to/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [Worry is an unhealthy and destructive mental habit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/worry-is-an-unhealthy-and-destructive-mental-habit/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [“An internal locus of control emerges when we develop a mental habit of transforming chores into meaningful choices, when we assert that we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-duhigg/an-internal-locus-of-control-emerges-when-we-develop-a-mental-habit/) [Charles Duhigg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-duhigg/) > [ \[The imagination\] . . . inspires an audacious mental habit. We are as elastic as the gas of gunpowder, and . . . a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsilio-ficino/the-imagination-inspires-an-audacious-mental-habit-we-are-as-elastic/) [Marsilio Ficino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsilio-ficino/) > [“Empathy is the mental habit that moves us beyond thinking of people as laboratory rats or standard deviations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-brown/empathy-is-the-mental-habit-that-moves-us-beyond-thinking-of-people/) [Tim Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-brown/) > [When you write, you take the ball and you hold it up to the light and you turn it slowly, and let people draw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-cronin/when-you-write-you-take-the-ball-and-you-hold-it-up-to-the-light-and/) [Justin Cronin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-cronin/) > [Think for yourself. Unplug yourself from follow-the-follower groupthink, and virtually ignore what everyone else in your industry is saying (except the ones everyone agrees…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-pavlina/think-for-yourself-unplug-yourself-from-follow-the-follower/) [Steve Pavlina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-pavlina/) > [Your deeper sense isn’t a springboard; it’s a landing place. If you draw conclusions too quickly or too slowly, you’ll establish your self where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/your-deeper-sense-isn-t-a-springboard-it-s-a-landing-place-if-you/) [John de Ruiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/) ## More by Thomas Gilovich > [“Chapter 7 takes a psychological truism, “we tend to believe what we think others believe” and turns it around: We tend to think others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/chapter-7-takes-a-psychological-truism-we-tend-to-believe-what-we/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“As part of this research, one group of participants was asked which two countries are more similar to one another, East Germany and West…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/as-part-of-this-research-one-group-of-participants-was-asked-which/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“Finally, it has been shown that the tendency for people to think of themselves as above average is reduced—even for ambiguous traits—when people are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/finally-it-has-been-shown-that-the-tendency-for-people-to-think-of/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“It appears that the probabilistic sciences of psychology and medicine teach their students to apply statistical and methodological rules to both scientific and everyday-life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/it-appears-that-the-probabilistic-sciences-of-psychology-and-medicine/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“To live, it seems, is to explain, to justify, and to find coherence among diverse outcomes, characteristics, and causes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/to-live-it-seems-is-to-explain-to-justify-and-to-find-coherence-among/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“social psychologist Ziva Kunda, who argues that people are indeed more likely to believe things they want to believe, but that their capacity to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/social-psychologist-ziva-kunda-who-argues-that-people-are-indeed-more/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [We humans seem to be extremely good at generating ideas, theories, and explanations that have the ring of plausibility. We may be relatively deficient,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/we-humans-seem-to-be-extremely-good-at-generating-ideas-theories-and/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“our difficulty in accurately recognizing random arrangements of events can lead us to believe things that are not true—to believe something is systematic, ordered,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/our-difficulty-in-accurately-recognizing-random-arrangements-of/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“We therefore should be more skeptical than we seem to be about evidence presented to us secondhand. We should become accustomed to asking ourselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/we-therefore-should-be-more-skeptical-than-we-seem-to-be-about/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“In other words, when testing a hypothesis of similarity, people look for evidence of similarity rather than dissimilarity, and when testing a hypothesis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/in-other-words-when-testing-a-hypothesis-of-similarity-people-look/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [What we believe is heavily influenced by what we think others believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/what-we-believe-is-heavily-influenced-by-what-we-think-others-believe/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“develop the habit of employing one of several “consider the opposite” strategies. We can learn to ask ourselves, for example, “Suppose the exact opposite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/develop-the-habit-of-employing-one-of-several-consider-the-opposite/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“Unfortunately, psychology has not adequately come to grips with the difficult subject of entertainment (or with its opposite, boredom). Despite a few initial efforts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/unfortunately-psychology-has-not-adequately-come-to-grips-with-the/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“confirmatory events are in fact much more memorable than non-confirmatory events.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/confirmatory-events-are-in-fact-much-more-memorable-than-non/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“As a consequence, very tall parents tend to have tall children, but not as tall (on average) as they are themselves;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/as-a-consequence-very-tall-parents-tend-to-have-tall-children-but-not/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) [Explore all 62 Thomas Gilovich quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) ## More Biased quotes > [Critics are biased, and so are readers. (Indeed, a critic is a bundle of biases held loosely together by a sense of taste.) But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-balliett/critics-are-biased-and-so-are-readers-indeed-a-critic-is-a-bundle-of/) Whitney Balliett > [I'm a liberal, but I'm not biased. Seriously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-cronkite/i-m-a-liberal-but-i-m-not-biased-seriously/) [Walter Cronkite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-cronkite/) > [Biochemists and biologists who adhere blindly to the Darwinism theory search for results that will be in agreement with their theories and consequently orient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-paul-grasse/biochemists-and-biologists-who-adhere-blindly-to-the-darwinism-theory/) [Pierre-Paul Grasse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-paul-grasse/) > [The state of female artists is very good. But the very definition of art has been biased in that 'art' was what men did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-state-of-female-artists-is-very-good-but-the-very-definition-of/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Digital media are biased toward replication and storage. Our digital photos practically upload and post themselves on Facebook, and our most deleted e-mails tend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/digital-media-are-biased-toward-replication-and-storage-our-digital/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [“I pick up a copy of Newsweek on the plane and immediately notice how biased, slanted, and opinionated all the U.S. newsmagazine articles are.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-byrne/i-pick-up-a-copy-of-newsweek-on-the-plane-and-immediately-notice-how/) [David Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-byrne/) > [The schedules are crammed with shows urging us to travel further, drive faster, build bigger, buy more, yet none of them are deemed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-monbiot/the-schedules-are-crammed-with-shows-urging-us-to-travel-further/) [George Monbiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-monbiot/) > [The ideal reader of my novels is a lapsed Catholic and failed musician, short-sighted, colour-blind, auditorily biased, who has read the books that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/the-ideal-reader-of-my-novels-is-a-lapsed-catholic-and-failed/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [Yes, the mainstream media is painfully biased.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jedediah-bila/yes-the-mainstream-media-is-painfully-biased/) [Jedediah Bila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jedediah-bila/) > [I think I'm the best at everything that I do. I may be biased because it's me. But if you ask me that, that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cam-ron/i-think-i-m-the-best-at-everything-that-i-do-i-may-be-biased-because/) [Cam'ron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cam-ron/) > [I pledge allegiance to the fair and balanced truth. Not the biased truth, Not the liest truth, But the highest truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-pledge-allegiance-to-the-fair-and-balanced-truth-not-the-biased/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [It is quite exhilarating to speak about a God who has an incredible bias, a notorious bias in favor of the downtrodden. You look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/it-is-quite-exhilarating-to-speak-about-a-god-who-has-an-incredible/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [Well, being a black man in America and growing up in this society, my view of the justice system is pretty much set. I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-morgan/well-being-a-black-man-in-america-and-growing-up-in-this-society-my/) [Rob Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-morgan/) > [There's no question that I am biased toward the Hebrew calendar over the Gregorian one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bari-weiss/there-s-no-question-that-i-am-biased-toward-the-hebrew-calendar-over/) [Bari Weiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bari-weiss/) > [The present educational establishment, to cite just one group, has been obscuring the past so that our children have no way of comparing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-demar/the-present-educational-establishment-to-cite-just-one-group-has-been/) [Gary DeMar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-demar/) Browse all 277 Biased quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Perhaps the most general and most important mental habit to instill is an appreciation of the folly of trying to draw conclusions from incomplete and unrepresentative evidence. 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