The Winner and Victim of ‘Anchoring Bias’ – AYUSH versus Allopathy

Anchoring bias is often exploited by most business houses to win and mesmerize the customers. The anchoring bias would certainly influence the customers to take quick decisions that are often without the involvement of intelligence and understanding and mostly with a comparison of the first reference/piece of data that they were exposed to.

While making such decisions, often customers anchor to the initial piece of information to take subsequent decisions or conclusions. Once people anchor to something, the subsequent decisions always revolve around the initial anchor and bound to cause bias in interpreting all data around the anchor.

For example, when products with their initial price are scored off and new price tag with a clear discount price tag is fixed and displayed in the shops, it would easily attract the customers to immediately buy such products assuming that such products are now available at cheaper rate.

The point is that always people anchor to any piece of information served to them for the first time and use such anchor to take decisions that are either favorable to or against the anchor.

Let us assume the history and evolution of AYUSH. Different health care practices classified under AYUSH such as Siddha, Ayurveda etc., are tutored and recited over generations as gift of God given to highly spiritually evolved beings, grown empirically, holistic in its approach, absolutely safe, it was part and parcel of ancient tradition, linked with religion and ethnicity, 2000 to 5000 years old etc.

The above prelude and preamble was and is sufficient to create a strong anchor bias in people about AYUSH.

Further, AYUSH was also popularized with the footnote and repeated scrolling that all AYUSH products are safe, part of nature, treat and cure not just the symptoms but the root cause by totally and completely uprooting the problem. Above all, the system also serves veiled whip to people not to question God and sermons of God men.
This psychological over charging has resulted in making generations after generations of people to follow the dictums of AYUSH like how ants in a colony follow the trail mark without raising any doubt, questions or criticism or deviation. Thus, AYUSH could escape rigorous scrutiny, questions, criticism or evaluation of its merit.

All the above narratives not just created anchoring bias in people, but in generations of people, may be at genetic level!!!. This has collectively made AYUSH to become a clear winner due to the anchoring bias of generations.

On the contrary, allopathic science came as a product of scientific validation, allowed questions, scrutiny, and criticism, clearly told about its limitations, side effects, long term effects etc. Further, it also when introduced in different geographic areas, told the users to be cautious and careful and report the side effects if any.

The above preamble of allopathic system of medicine has certainly created a different anchor bias upon people. However acutely people may be dependent upon an allopathic system of medicine, but still people largely anchor on the side effects and long-term effects of the allopathic system more easily than its benefits and science. This had made the allopathic system both victim and villain due to ‘anchoring bias when compared to AYUSH which is a clear winner without any merit, science and logic.

Unfortunately the frank and open admission of own merits, limitations, willingness to receive criticism & scrutiny, willing to withdraw/disappear/change from the scene if anything goes wrong approach of allopathic system was seen and interpreted by some people who were engaged in promoting AYUSH as allopathic system of medicine as villain than hero.

On the contrary, the God, God element, spiritually evolved the system, the tag of tradition, culture etc., the promoters of AYUSH used conveniently to encapsulate the intelligence of people from asking any questions pertaining to its science, proof, and logics.

It looks like the promoters and lover of AYUSH during pre to immediately after independence has understood the management principle of ‘anchoring bias’ as well as the absolute weakness of AYUSH as it lacks science, merit, and logic. Therefore, no questions should be entertained. The best way to block the temptations of people from asking questions is to scare them with words like God, God men, curse, religion, language affinity etc. When people are anchored on any of these emotional aspects, they can be made as prisoners for the lifetime. This astuteness of the promoters of AYUSH during the beginning of the century has worked well for the system in creating a hallucination or aura, not science or merit or logic.

Why in spite of such strong anchoring bias favoring AYUSH, its popularity and acceptance are dwindling swiftly and even those who have studied the course for 5 ½ years go after allopathic practice than practicing own products? Maybe the AYUSH vaidyas in private practice are anchoring on money for survival and know fully well that God, God men, Godliness etc., cannot fetch them a livelihood. In comparison, Allopathic system came with proof, willing to prove it further, banked on merit and than hollow and incredible promises.

Another fundamental question also we must answer as why AYUSH has poor takers as reflected by several surveys of NSSO? It may be because since independence AYUSH has been speaking nothing but what it had started Probably some portion of the anchoring bias set at genetic level may be segregating out and started to disappear from one generation to next and hence larger proportion of the present generation either are not cared to listen to AYUSH or follow. This possibility can be easily authenticated by the rampant cross pathy by la large number of AYUSH vaidyas in private practice.

The final question is how AYUSH survives even today and receives sponsorship, and patronage of the Government? It is not due to its science, merit or usefulness but purely due to ‘anchoring bias’. On the contrary allopathy is preferred mostly by all is due to its merit and science.

In all movies the hero will never play the role of villain even secretly and the villain character portrayed will never play the role of hero, savior and most needed to man kind.

Dr S Ranganathan