Do you experience BIAS!

Icelander53

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I notice this as a basic human trait. Still there may be some who have overcome much of it. Are you one of them? Here's a question to find out.

Have you ever gotten all worked up about a purchase and then found out it wasn't all that great but you end up defending it to friends anyway or convincing yourself of it's worth when a few days or weeks down the road you finally admit to yourself you were fos and you knew it underneath all the time.

I've done it lots. I do it with new string sets all the time. When I put them on I go into my WOW mode because I so want them to be WOW. However it's only after a few days that I can relax and get over my need to be right and evaluate them in a more honest fashion. And of course then you have to put on the new strings. ;)

Anyway I was just wondering how you rate yourself on this nonsense.
 
Nah ...if it's pants I just accept my usual break of luck and go "oh well"
 
Interesting question. I try not to be influenced by "wanting to like something" when giving advice to others who are about to spend money, because it makes me feel responsible if they don't like something I recommend, but that's also hard to do when I'm intoxicated by my own enthusiasm at the time as I may simply not be fully aware that I'm overemphasizing what I like and downplaying (to myself) what I don't.

New and exciting things are a lot like new and exciting relationships. You focus much more on the bright and happy sides of someone (or something) in the beginning (before you foolishly say, "So, tell me more about yourself!"). It usually takes a while for balance to set in.

I feel that I need to spend at least three months with a new product (instrument, software, hardware, etc.) before I have a balanced view that is neither colored (too much) by either "wee, new toy!" excitement or "ugh, I didn't really need this, did I?" hangover-ish buyer's remorse. Then, I think, I'm fairly unbiased and can offer meaningful pros and cons. But right after a new thing entered my life, no, I'm likely to be involuntarily biased one way or another (typically in a favorable way since optimism feels great!).

There's always preference, though, which is a bit different from bias. I may never stop liking an aspect of something that others may not enjoy, because they prefer or value different aspects (strings would be a good example here).
 
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When I was younger, but as I've gotten older, a lot less so.
 
One manifestation of a concept known as cognitive dissonance is the feelings one experiences after making a purchase. often, there's a moment of self-doubt, also known as buyer's remorse, after a purchase. The dissonance between the remorse and having made the choice to buy the thing in the first place is often resolved by convincing oneself of all the positive aspects of the choice made and all the negative aspects of the choice not made.

A related concept is confirmation bias, which basically defined as a tendency to search for, interpret, or recall information in a way that confirms one's beliefs or hypotheses.
 
I notice this as a basic human trait.

Have you ever gotten all worked up about a purchase and then found out it wasn't all that great but you end up defending it to friends anyway or convincing yourself of it's worth when a few days or weeks down the road you finally admit to yourself you were fos and you knew it underneath all the time.

It's not a trait of mine. I am honest.
 
Oh yes, this definitely happens. That "high" of buying something and then the excitation of it coming in the mail/ tracking the package/ unboxing it/ etc. Inevitably I end up letdown a few days later. Then I end up with a closet full of junk or stuff that I wore/ played / played with/ used once.

One manifestation of a concept known as cognitive dissonance is the feelings one experiences after making a purchase. often, there's a moment of self-doubt, also known as buyer's remorse, after a purchase. The dissonance between the remorse and having made the choice to buy the thing in the first place is often resolved by convincing oneself of all the positive aspects of the choice made and all the negative aspects of the choice not made.

A related concept is confirmation bias, which basically defined as a tendency to search for, interpret, or recall information in a way that confirms one's beliefs or hypotheses.
 
Not exactly. At times I've bought or built an instrument whilst excited, then regretted it somewhat, and just put it aside for a few years or decades. Later I rekindle my interest and return to it, brighter and better than ever. That's happened with a banjo-uke, a couple of Cumbus o'uds, and my dulcimers. Or I might decide that I'll NEVER get back to it -- then it's time for eBay. My MiniMoog and Roland analog synth will soon hit the block, along with a Tascam portastudio.

Do I try to justify my purchases and accumulations to others? Well, sort of. I now have way too many camera lenses. I used to explain that I'd built a lens library, a reference collection. Right. ;) Many of those will be sold down the river too when I return home from my long road trip. Damn, I love that Schneider Betavaron! It's the most brutally sharp lens I've ever encountered. But I just don't use it, nor my other bespoke macro lenses, all some of the finest glass ever made. And I sure don't need 50 Nifty Fifties. Do I regret buying any of them? Well, maybe that Sigma superzoom that cost me a grand...

If I suffered from cognitive dissonance, would I even know it?
 
I think we are all a little bias in so much as we tote the features that make an item great to us. That is why we bought so in and of it's self that bias is logical. But those same features may not be a priority to others. Tempering our "review" of something new is what I have noticed a number of people do by saying, "it ticks off all of my boxes" or "I personally prefer a thicker neck but others might not" and of course the usual "YMMV".

If we aren't excited about the new thing we just bought then something is probably wrong.
 
Reminds me of the song line, "We got winners. We got losers...." When it comes to wooden instruments acquired online, it's always a gamble no matter how much research is done. I consider each one I get via an online source a surprise item. It may be fabulous out of the box, or fairly decent after some set-up work, or the next major project. That's the gamble - winners and losers. As long as its cost hasn't taken food off the table, it qualifies as entertainment. That "wow factor" does happen sometimes, but only after that pragmatic "well, let's see what this one is like" feeling has passed.
 
Reminds me of the song line, "We got winners. We got losers...." When it comes to wooden instruments acquired online, it's always a gamble no matter how much research is done. I consider each one I get via an online source a surprise item. It may be fabulous out of the box, or fairly decent after some set-up work, or the next major project. That's the gamble - winners and losers. As long as its cost hasn't taken food off the table, it qualifies as entertainment. That "wow factor" does happen sometimes, but only after that pragmatic "well, let's see what this one is like" feeling has passed.

I'm getting that way myself. However I drastically cut the odds of disappointment by using HMS whenever possible.
 
Call it ukulele escapism, just another form of recreation to escape mundane reality. Or a nice coping mechanism.
Its like knowing that your favourite football team is the best in the universe, even in years when they get the wooden spoon or have a salary cap scandal and are kicked out of the finals, only its different.

Uke has been a lifesaver as a coping mechanism for me too. When I got ill one of my big worries was whether I'd be able to play. If not, then what? Not something I like to contemplate.
 
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