Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions
Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions is a podcast that helps listeners break free from unhelpful mental patterns and make better life choices. Each episode delves into the psychology behind decision-making, revealing hidden biases and invisible forces that shape behavior. The show provides practical tools to think more clearly, decide more wisely, and ultimately break the circuit of automatic reactions.
Episodes
The Phone in the Room Study
Why does having your phone nearby make it harder to think — even when you’re not using it? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the Phone in the Room Study — the surprising research showing that the mere presence of a smartphone can reduce attention, working memory, and cognitive performance.Discover how your brain allocates resources to resisting distraction, wh
The White Bear Suppression Study
Why is it that the harder we try not to think about something, the more it seems to take over our minds? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the White Bear Suppression Study — the famous experiment that revealed the paradox of thought suppression. When participants were told not to think about a white bear, they found themselves thinking about it even more.Disco
The Foot-in-the-Door Technique
Why do people agree to big requests after saying yes to a small one? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the foot-in-the-door technique — a powerful persuasion strategy where securing a small commitment first makes people more likely to agree to a larger request later.Discover why consistency is such a strong force in human behaviour, how marketers, salespeople,
The Curse of Knowledge
Why is it so difficult to remember what it’s like not to know something? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the curse of knowledge — the cognitive bias that makes informed people assume others share the same understanding, context, or perspective that they do.Discover how knowledge can unintentionally create blind spots, why experts often struggle to explain si
The Scar Experiment
Why does what we believe about ourselves change the way other people seem to treat us? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the Scar Experiment — the psychological study showing how our beliefs and insecurities can shape the way we interpret social interactions.Discover how seeing yourself as judged, weak, or victimised can subtly change the way you act and respo
The Decoy Effect
Why do our preferences change just because a third option is added? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the decoy effect — the phenomenon where introducing a strategically inferior option makes one of the original choices more attractive.Discover how comparisons shape what we choose, why “irrelevant” options can steer decisions, and how to recognise when your pr
The Identifiable Victim Effect
Why do we feel a surge of compassion for one person’s story — yet stay emotionally flat when thousands are suffering? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we unpack the identifiable victim effect — our tendency to respond more strongly to a single, vivid individual than to an entire group.Explore why statistics leave us cold, how our brains are wired to care about people ra
Outcome Bias
Why do we judge decisions by how they turn out - rather than how they were made? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore outcome bias - the tendency to evaluate the quality of a decision based on its result, instead of the reasoning behind it.Discover how good decisions can lead to bad outcomes (and vice versa), how hindsight skews our judgement, and how to focus on
The Fundamental Attribution Error
Why do we blame people's haracter for their actions - but excuse our own behaviour as "just the situation"? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions. we explore the fundamental attribution error - the tendency to overestimate personal traits and underestimate situational factors when judging others.Discover how this bias shapes the way we interpret behavior, why we&#
Hindsight Bias
Why do events feel obvious after they've already haappened? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore hindsight bias - the tendency to see outcomes as predictable in retrospect, even when they weren't at the time. Discover how this "knew it all along" effect distorts memory, inflates confidence in our judgement, and makes us underestimate uncertainty.S
The Pratfall Effect
Why does making a small mistake sometimes make someone more likeable? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the pratfall effect - the psychological phenomenon where a minor slip-up can actually increase someone's appeal, especially if they're already seen as competent. Discover how imperfection can humanise us, how confidence interacts with mistakes, and h
Moral Licensing
Why are we more inclined to make a bad choice after doing something good? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore moral licensing - the psychological effect where past "good" behaviour subconsciously gives us permission to act less ethically or responsibly later on.Discover how small acts of virtue can quietly justify poor decisions, how we balance our actio
The False Consensus Effect
Why do we assume that most people think the same way we do? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the false consensus effect - the cognitive bias that leads us to overestimate how much others share our beliefs, opinions and behaviours. Discover how our own perspectives subtly become the "default" in our minds, how we expect agreement more often than realit
The Spotlight Effect
Why do we feel like everyone is watching us - even when they probably aren't? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the spotlight effect - the cognitive bias that makes us believe our actions, mistakes and appearance are being noticed far more than they actually are. Discover how we overestimate how much attention others pay to us, how this illusion can fuel e
The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Why do our expectations so often become our reality? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the self‑fulfilling prophecy — the psychological phenomenon where beliefs and assumptions influence behaviour until they make themselves true.Discover how expectations shape actions, why other people’s beliefs can affect your performance, and how changing your internal predi
The Halo and Devil Effect
Why does one good trait make someone seem completely brilliant - while one flaw makes them seem entirely flawed? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the halo effect and the devil effect - the biases that cause a single impression to shape how we judge someone's entire character.Discover how first impressions spill over into assumptions about intelligence and
The Zeigarnik Effect
Why do unfinished tasks stick in our minds long after we've stopped working on them? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the Zeigarnik Effect - the psychological phenomenon where incomplete tasks are remembered more clearly than completed ones.Discover why open loops create mental tension, how unfinished work captures your attention, and how to use this effe
Loss Aversion
Why does losing something hurt more than gaining the same thing feels good? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore loss aversion - the psychological bias that makes losses feel more powerful, painful and important than equivalent gains.Discover how fear of loss shapes decision-making and behaviour; why we cling onto what we already have; and how to overcome this bi
Temporal Discounting
Why do we choose short-term rewards even when we know waiting would be better? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore temporal discounting - the tendency to value immediate rewards more highly than future ones, even when the future payoff is larger or wiser.Discover how time distorts our judgement, and how understanding this bias can help you make decisions that yo
The Framing Effect
Does the way information is presented change how we decide - even when the facts stay the same? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the framing effect - the cognitive bias that causes our choices to shift depending on whether something is framed as a gain or a loss.Discover how wording steers our decisions, how identical options can feel compltetely different, a
The Dunning Kruger Effect
Why do people with the least experience often feel the most confident - while true expertise comes with doubt? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the Dunning-Kruger Effect - the cognitive bias that causes people with limited knowledge or skill to overestimate their ability, while more competent individuals feel less confident.Discover how gaps in self-awareness
The Progress Principle
Why does making even small progress feel so motivating — and why do setbacks drain us so quickly? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the progress principle — the idea that consistent, meaningful progress is one of the strongest drivers of motivation, engagement, and well-being. When we feel like we’re moving forward, our confidence grows; when progress stalls,
Confirmation Bias
Why do we seek out information that agrees with us — and ignore what doesn’t? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore confirmation bias — the tendency to favour evidence that supports our existing beliefs while dismissing or downplaying anything that challenges them. Discover how to recognise when you’re searching for reassurance instead of truth — and how to challe
Anchoring Bias
Why do first numbers stick in our minds — even when we know they’re arbitrary? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore anchoring bias — the mental shortcut that causes us to rely too heavily on the first piece of information we encounter when making decisions. From price tags and negotiations to estimates, grades, and everyday judgments, we uncover how initial ancho
The Availability Error
Why do rare events feel far more common than they really are? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the availability error — the mental shortcut that makes us judge probability based on how easily examples come to mind. From dramatic news stories to personal memories that stick with us, we uncover how vivid or recent information can distort our perception of risk,
Addiction
Why do some people spiral into addiction while others — even with the same access — stay completely fine? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we dive into Bruce Alexander’s groundbreaking work on addiction, namely, the famous Rat Park experiment. His research shows that addiction isn’t just about drugs — it’s about environment, connection, and purpose. Rats in isolated, ba
Priming
Why do subtle cues in our environment quietly shape our thoughts, feelings, and decisions—often without us noticing? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we dive into priming — the psychological phenomenon where exposure to certain words, images, or ideas can influence how we interpret the world and how we behave next. From tiny triggers that nudge our mood to hidden cues t
The Stanford Prison Experiment
Why do ordinary people slip into cruel or submissive roles the moment power is handed out? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we examine the Stanford Prison Experiment — the infamous study that revealed just how quickly authority, environment, and assigned roles can transform behaviour. From guards who escalated into aggression to prisoners who internalised obedience and
The Bystander Effect
Why do people fail to step in during an emergency — even when they know someone needs help? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we explore the psychology behind the bystander effect — the strange social phenomenon where the presence of others makes us less likely to take action. From classic studies by Darley and Latané to real-world moments where hesitation can have serio
Conforming to a Group
Why do we go along with the crowd, even when we know they might be wrong? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we dive into the psychology of group conformity — the powerful social pull that makes us blend in, stay quiet, and follow others, often without realizing it. From classic experiments like Asch’s line test to everyday situations where peer pressure subtly shapes our
Obedience to Authority
Why do ordinary people follow orders that go against their morals? In this episode of Circuit Breaker: Rewiring Your Decisions, we look at the psychology behind obedience to authority. Through the lens of Stanley Milgram’s shocking experiment, we explore how power, pressure, and perceived responsibility can override personal judgment.Learn what this reveals about human nature—and how understanding
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