── ── Cognitive bias
Framing Effect
The framing effect: logically equivalent descriptions of the same decision produce different choices depending on whether outcomes are cast as gains or losses. Frame determines whether the brain enters gain-mode or loss-mode; the choice follows from the mode.
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How it works
Step 1 — Identify the frame: gain/loss/attribute/goal; verbatim language; who chose it. Step 2 — Construct the equivalent alternative frame: same math, opposite wording. Step 3 — Re-evaluate: does your choice change under the alternative frame? If yes, the frame is doing the work. Step 4 — Compute frame-independent EV: strip the language; which option is rationally best? Step 5 — Diagnose framer intent: who benefits from the framed choice? Was the frame chosen to steer? Step 6 — Choose response: take framed option (if aligned with EV), take frame-independent option, or expose the frame.
When to use it
- user says 'how you say it matters', 'they're spinning the numbers', 'same data but sounds different', 'is this just framing?', wants to write a persuasive message, suspects a statistic is one-sided, or is evaluating options where the language feels loaded
When not to use it
the different descriptions convey genuinely non-equivalent information (one frame omits real facts); the decision is trivial and multi-frame analysis exceeds the stakes.
Worked example
The 2024–2026 AI Capex Debate — "Visionary Infrastructure" vs "Bubble-Era Overbuild"
Between 2024 and 2026, the largest US technology companies — including Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta — dramatically increased capital expenditure on AI infrastructure: data centers, GPUs, and power. Nvidia, the dominant supplier of AI accelerators, became one of the most valuable companies in the world on the strength of this spending. The identical spending was described in two sharply different ways by different parties, and the two descriptions pointed toward opposite decisions on identical facts. This is a live, unfolding case of the framing…
Install this skill (free, MIT)
npx skills add deciqAI/knowledge-skillsUseful? Star the repo — stars help other builders find it.
FAQ
What is the framing effect with an example?
Logically identical choices produce different decisions depending on presentation. In Tversky and Kahneman's disease experiment, a program described as 'saving 200 of 600 lives' was preferred over the same program described as '400 will die' — identical outcomes, opposite choices.
Why does framing change decisions?
Gain frames put the brain in risk-averse mode; loss frames trigger loss aversion and risk-seeking. Because the mode is chosen by the description rather than the substance, whoever writes the frame partly makes the decision — before any deliberation happens.
How do I defend against the framing effect?
Re-describe the decision in the opposite frame and see if your preference survives: restate every gain as a loss and every loss as a gain. For high-stakes choices, write out the raw numbers stripped of adjectives — if the choice flips with the wording, it was the frame deciding, not you.
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