You have learned a lot about the heuristics, biases, and cognitive shortcuts that can lead any of us to wrong conclusions. And you have now watched a substantial portion of Colin Powell’s speech to the United Nations, presenting evidence of weapon of mass destruction in Iraq prior to the Iraq War. As we know, there turned out not to be any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Which of the heuristics, biases, and cognitive shortcuts you have learned about might have lead Powell and others to believe so strongly that the weapons were there?
