Kleshas: Five Mental Afflictions Generating Bias

Patanjali identifies five kleshas—fundamental mental afflictions: avidya (ignorance), asmita (ego-identification), raga (attachment), dvesha (aversion), and abhinivesha (fear of death). These aren't mere emotions but deep cognitive structures that shape perception itself. Each klesha generates characteristic bias patterns: avidya creates fundamental misperceptions, asmita generates ego-defensive biases (like better-than-average effect), raga creates approach biases and wishful thinking, dvesha creates avoidance biases and negativity bias, abhinivesha creates mortality-denial and unrealistic optimism. Most debiasing programs address surface-level thinking errors without addressing these deeper afflictions. Patanjali's framework suggests lasting bias reduction requires working with the kleshas themselves—not just correcting individual biased conclusions but transforming the underlying mental afflictions that generate bias patterns continuously. This approach deepens debiasing from cognitive techniques into psychological transformation.