Albert Bandura Quotes

It's human nature to find patterns where there are none and to find skill where luck is a more likely explanation (particularly if you're the lucky manager).

The general root of superstition is that men observe when things hit, and not when they miss, and commit to memory the one, and pass over the other.

We like to think we're superior to the people who, centuries ago, burned 'witches' for no better reason than a neighbor's belief that his crop failure or impotence was caused by that woman's action. But reporters are still prone to the same mental errors that caused these killings: seeing patterns where there are none, finding causes where there is only coincidence, ignoring our sources' political agendas and turning scanty evidence into panic.

The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing hits, but not when it misses.

The line between science and magic becomes blurred so that public judgments on technical issues can be erratic or badly flawed. It frequently appears that some people will believe almost anything. Thus judgments can be manipulated or warped by unscrupulous groups. Distortions or outright falsehoods can come to be accepted as fact.

One of the big differences between liberals and conservatives is that liberals really, really want to believe that people want to listen to facts.

If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance with his instincts, he will accept it even on the slenderest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way.

I'm disturbed when people let superstition, magical thinking, extreme conspiracy theories and so on blur their minds.

Affery, like greater people, had always been right in her facts, and always wrong in the theories she deduced from them.

People assign much higher probability to the truth of their opinions than is warranted.

All superstition is much the same whether it be that of astrology, dreams, omen, retributive judgment, or the like, in all of which the deluded believers observe events which are fulfilled, but neglect and pass over their failure, though it be much more common.

If you stare long enough at anything, you will start to find similarities. The word “coincidence” exists in order to stop people from seeing meaning where none exists.

People had an illogical, self-serving rationale when it came to interpreting the behavior of others.

Such is the way of all superstition, whether in astrology, dreams, omens, divine judgments, or the like; wherein men, having a delight in such vanities, mark the events where they are fulfilled, but where they fail, though this happen much oftener.

People are disposed to mistake predicting troubles for causing troubles and even for desiring troubles.

How weak our mind is; how quickly it is terrified and unbalanced as soon as we are confronted with a small, incomprehensible fact. Instead of dismissing the problem with: "We do not understand because we cannot find the cause," we immediately imagine terrible mysteries and supernatural powers.

Human beings are poor examiners, subject to superstition, bias, prejudice, and a PROFOUND tendency to see what they want to see rather than what is really there.

There are many people out there who don't even think of themselves as being averse to facts, but the truth is, they are not getting it.

People sometimes see an image and without knowing the surrounding patterns draw false conclusions.

The trouble with being quoted a lot is that it makes other people think you're quoting yourself when in fact you're merely repeating yourself.

The fact is that people would rather cling when they're afraid of something to a priori beliefs than rather open their minds about it.

Acknowledge the complexity of the world and resist the impression that you easily understand it. People are too quick to accept conventional wisdom, because it sounds basically true and it tends to be reinforced by both their peers and opinion leaders, many of whome have never looked at whether the facts support the received wisdom. It's a basic fact of life that many things "everybody knows" turn out to be wrong.

You usually dont know what you are going to write about so you go to the places and talk to the people who were identified with the events.

...if one thing frightens people, it is that so much happens, on earth and out in space, the reasons for which seem somehow to escape them, and they fill in the gap by putting it down to the gods.

People exaggerate their own skills. they are optimistic about their prospects and overconfident about their guesses, including which managers to pick.