Final answer:
Cognitive biases exist because we receive too much information and our brains use mental shortcuts or heuristics to process information efficiently, which can lead to patterns of quick but sometimes faulty thinking.
Step-by-step explanation:
One explanation for why cognitive biases exist is that we receive too much information and are overloaded. When the brain defaults to heuristics, which are simple, efficient rules our brains use to help us make quick decisions, it can result in a cognitive bias. These biases arise as our mental shortcuts to cope with the vast amount of information we encounter, but they can lead to less-than-optimal results or incorrect decisions. More precisely, cognitive biases are patterns of 'quick' thinking that rely on the rule of thumb rather than logical, detailed processing of information.
Cognitive biases are much like perceptual illusions in that they are a result of the natural and ordinarily efficient operation of the brain. However, they may lead to misleading and faulty patterns of thought due to these shortcuts, known as heuristics.
An important aspect of understanding cognitive biases is recognizing that they are not logical but are built into the way humans process information. This is because they are based on simple, efficient mental short-cuts that help us make sense of the information we receive, not through careful reasoning, but through a pattern of 'quick' thinking.