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WeAreDevelopers LIVE โ€ข Oct 28, 2026

WeAreDevelopers LIVE: Your Brain Is Lying to You: Cognitive Biases in Development

Kate Astrid

Hosted by Christian Heilmann, Daniel Cranney

Kate Astrid reveals how hardwired cognitive biases secretly sabotage your code. Learn to debug your brain before sycophantic AI assistants amplify your worst development mistakes.

Starting at 34:46 ยท Watch from the beginning

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#1 about 4 min

Maintaining an extensive developer blog and fixing broken links

Updating a massive static site reveals the high volume of dead services on the modern web.

#2 about 5 min

Navigating confusing developer job titles and consulting roles

Comparing specific IT job titles like forward deployed engineer against protected titles in other industries clarifies professional roles.

#3 about 3 min

Explaining developer roles to border control and non-technical people

The challenges of traveling internationally and communicating responsibilities highlight the ambiguity of modern engineering titles.

#4 about 5 min

Closing maker spaces and the accessibility of hardware hacking

The shutdown of corporate hardware labs contrasts with the growing ease of modifying consumer electronics.

#5 about 5 min

Evaluating new hardware form factors and feature bloat

Adding multiple features and foldable screens increases cognitive load rather than solving actual user problems.

#6 about 4 min

Addressing single points of failure in open source software

Relying on underfunded volunteer maintainers for critical web infrastructure creates massive security and stability vulnerabilities.

#7 about 2 min

Mitigating legal risks by training models on cached data

Shifting artificial intelligence training away from the live internet helps avoid copyright and intellectual property violations.

#8 about 3 min

Understanding the security risks of cracked and illegal software

Downloading unlicensed applications inevitably exposes personal computers to long-term vulnerabilities and malicious botnets.

#9 about 4 min

Analyzing token consumption discrepancies across different human languages

Generating responses in non-English languages consumes significantly more tokens and increases the financial cost of inference.

#10 about 3 min

Implementing artificial intelligence automation in the construction industry

Traditional architecture and construction firms remain hesitant about data security when adopting automated design platforms.

#11 about 5 min

Exploring experimental side projects and specialized developer tools

Building quirky applications like local wikis or domain name system language models highlights the value of experimentation.

#12 about 3 min

Creating social media preview images and niche developer networks

Generating proper metadata images ensures links unfurl correctly when sharing content across various social platforms.

#13 about 4 min

Utilizing native random functions within modern styling sheets

The introduction of randomness in layout styles enables natural variations without relying on external scripting logic.

#14 about 9 min

Differentiating real technology news from fabricated media headlines

Guessing whether obscure tech developments are true reveals the increasingly bizarre nature of the modern industry.

#15 about 5 min

Recognizing the sunk cost fallacy and survivorship bias

Developers frequently waste time on failing architectural decisions simply because they have already invested heavy effort.

#16 about 3 min

Counteracting confirmation bias and arbitrary estimation anchors

Applying the scientific method to software engineering prevents teams from making decisions based on arbitrary initial numbers.

#17 about 3 min

Preventing language models from reinforcing existing developer biases

Relying exclusively on enthusiastic artificial intelligence suggestions can blind engineers to fundamental flaws in their logic.

#18 about 6 min

Accepting personal shortcomings to overcome cognitive barriers

Acknowledging personal cognitive flaws without embarrassment prevents developers from making defensive technical decisions.

#19 about 8 min

Improving team collaboration by complementing individual developer weaknesses

Building diverse software engineering teams ensures that individual cognitive biases are balanced by different perspectives.

#20 about 4 min

Recommended literature for understanding rationality and cognitive limitations

Reading specialized fiction and scientific texts provides practical frameworks for recognizing and managing irrational thought patterns.

Matching moments

2:07 min

Mitigating hardwired cognitive biases in technical decision making

Alex Thurow Alex Thurow ยท Europe 2026 Virtual

5:18 min

Addressing psychological safety and ethical risks of AI adoption

Vera Slavniฤ‡ Vera Slavniฤ‡ ยท Europe 2026 Virtual

1:31 min

Addressing developer burnout and the impact of artificial intelligence

Pauline Pagliaro Pauline Pagliaro ยท World Congress 2025

6:29 min

Balancing AI enthusiasm with cynical engineering tool practices

3:14 min

Developing practical habits to counter cognitive biases

Kate Astrid Kate Astrid ยท World Congress 2026 North America

3:16 min

Cognitive bias and uncritical tech adoption in architecture

Hendrik Lรถsch Hendrik Lรถsch ยท World Congress 2025

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