How long does it take?

How long does it take to go to the airport, about 40 minutes I asked?
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No about 35 minutes he answered
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Then I asked the lady at reception if the journey was about 20 minutes?
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No about 25 she answered
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I timed it the trip was 31 minutes
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I wonder if you notice what is going on above?
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It is called anchoring and is a part of human behaviour
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We like to anchor to things
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In the above example the first person is given the anchor of 40 minutes
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In the second 20 minutes
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Both replies responded from the anchor and not from a zero basis of the knowledge of the time it takes to go to the airport
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In life we all use anchor points to save ourselves time
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To aid us in arriving at answers to things
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Part of our reductionist world where we compare everything to something else we know or have seen
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Just a bit more subtle anchoring can be used to manipulate as shown above
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It is how we relate to things like our money
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Anchoring is the reason people do not react to their total accumulated wealth but to differences of wealth from whatever number they are currently anchored to
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Note how you without thinking use anchor points
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Not just your own but those given to you by others
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Some by manipulating companies
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Others by friends
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Notice and then stop to consider are these reasonable to me?
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Or will I adjust them?
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Stop anchoring yourself to ridiculous anchors
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Like all those stupid ads for aging cream promoted by teenage models
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Or ads for shampoo on glossy oil drenched hair promoted by models
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Or so called celebrities airbrushed into impossible beauty, just look at shots of them taken in real life
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And so it goes on
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Let go of anchoring it is not good for your health