Blog
Courage in the Face of Conformity: Overcoming the Bystander Effect
In 1964, a young woman named Kitty Genovese was brutally attacked and murdered outside her apartment in Queens, New York. Over thirty minutes, Kitty’s screams for help echoed through the neighborhood, yet none of her neighbors came to her aid. Some watched from their windows, while others heard her cries,
The Illusion of Authority: How Blind Trust Can Lead Us Astray
To demonstrate authority bias, researchers from the University of California conducted a fascinating experiment. They had a man in a business suit and another poorly dressed man jaywalk across the street where pedestrians were waiting to cross at a light. The researchers observed how many pedestrians followed the jaywalker, with
Hidden Manipulation: How Delta Legally Twisted Its Financial Statements
Have you ever felt that statistics used in everyday life are purposely designed to deceive you? As Black Sheep, we see the world differently, and it’s not our imagination. Companies and governments have been using statistics to manipulate people for centuries. And it continues today, despite past blunders and knowing
The Prosecutor’s Fallacy: How Bad Math Almost Ruined Lives
In 1963, a petty neighborhood robbery in Los Angeles set a legal precedent on using probabilistic evidence in trials. This case, involving an elderly woman named Juanita Brooks, who was attacked and robbed by a blonde woman, and John Bass, a witness who saw a blonde woman with a ponytail
The COVID Vaccine Decision: Navigating Bias and Making Informed Choices
Your healthy, young son is recommended a COVID vaccine by his school. What factors shape your decision? Imagine if an entire generation was forced by government edict to get vaccinated, regardless of risk, health status, or natural immunity. Non-compliance meant being blacklisted from society—you couldn’t work, earn a living, or
The Case of Cigarettes: How Data Manipulation Hooked a Generation
Imagine being told that smoking was good for your health. That’s exactly what happened to an entire generation, thanks to the tobacco industry’s manipulation of data. In the early 20th century, the average American smoked only 54 cigarettes per year; by 1963, that number had skyrocketed to 4,345 cigarettes per