Our Gemara on Amud Aleph refers to a Rasha Arum, a cunning wicked person. The Zohar (Vayeshev) describes the Evil Inclination as the prototypical Rasha Arum, because he arrives first in a person’s life. That is when a young child only knows raw instinct, he tends toward physicality and lust. Only later, as a child develops intellectual discernment, he is capable of having a good inclination. Since the evil incarnation has already long been established, he has a “home court advantage”, so to speak. Zohar sees this as analogous to somebody who pleads his case before the judge before the other litigant gets a chance to make his case.

This is a common cognitive error that is known as Anchoring Bias, when you tend to believe the first opinion and give it more credence than any subsequent opinion. Anchoring Noas occurs despite the fact that the second opinion is equally plausible, or even more plausible.  The Rambam railed against this when he sought to challenge the existing dogma of what was included in the 613 mitzvos. He writes in his introduction to Sefer Hamitzvos:

וכאשר התבוננתי בזה וידעתי פרסום הענין הזה בידי ההמון, ידעתי כי אם אזכור אני המנין האמתי שראוי שימנה זכרון מוחלט מבלתי ראיה, הנה הקורא הראשון שיקראהו יחייב במחשבתו שזה טעות, ותהיה ראית הטעות אצלו ראותו בחלוף מה שזכר פלוני ופלוני, כי זהו בכל רוב אנשי הסגולה בזמננו זה כי לא יבחנו המאמר בענינו אבל בהסכימו למאמר מי שקדם בלתי בחינת המאמר הקודם , כל שכן ההמון.

And when I reflected upon this and realized the fame of the matter among the masses, I knew that if I mentioned the true count that is fitting to count plainly without proof, even the first reader to read it will be certain that it is a mistake. And he will see it as a mistake, since he will see that it is different than that which was mentioned by plony and plony. For this is what happens in our time among the esteemed people - that they do not examine a statement according to its content, but rather by whether the statement agrees with the statement of those who preceded him, without examining that earlier statement. All the more so is this the case with the masses.

There is an important, psychological and developmental reason for Anchoring Bias. We have to learn much of our early skills as children on faith from what the adults tell us. Otherwise, it would be way too cumbersome for us to possibly integrate by trial and error every possible idea or belief. Imagine how dangerous it would be if every child wanted to test out if it really is too dangerous to cross the street without looking, or to touch the oven when it is hot. Yes, it is in the nature of a child to experiment and see if it’s true, but a child does not experiment by disobeying every warning. Therefore, as a survival mechanism, it is wired in us to therefore give more credence to our first impression, regardless of what we will hear afterward. This forestalls becoming overwhelmed and confused. However, like any instinct, it leads to shortcuts that produce efficiency, but also lack  accuracy, and so an intelligent person must overcome instinct at times, in order to critically evaluate existing beliefs. 

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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