Thinking Traps 3/8: 2, 4, 6: The Simple Puzzle Most People Get Wrong (Confirmation Bias)

Tales of Life: Ordinary People, Extraordinary True Stories · Oct 30, 2026 · 5m

(02:12) Same evidence, two verdicts

(01:59) What confirmation bias is

(00:56) The real rule

(00:00) The 2, 4, 6 puzzle

Chapters:

Thinking Traps, lesson 2 of 7: confirmation bias. I'm thinking of a rule, and 2, 4, 6 fits it. Can you find the rule? In 1960 the psychologist Peter Wason gave people this puzzle, and most of them confidently announced the wrong answer, because they only tested numbers that fitted their own idea. You'll learn what confirmation bias is, the Stanford study where two groups read the same evidence and both became more sure of themselves, where the bias hides in…