XXIVCognitive Bias
Survivorship Bias
Your bias is Survivorship. Focusing on visible successes while ignoring missing failures.
Why This Bias Happens
The visible sample is emotionally compelling and easy to count. Invisible failures require deliberate search, so they are neglected.
Example 1
Stoic reflection asks us to inspect what is absent as well as present. Wisdom requires seeing the whole field, not only the victors.
Example 2
The classic WWII aircraft armor analysis succeeded by examining where returning planes were not hit, inferring where lost planes had been struck.