() People seem to stubbornly cling to their preexisting beliefs, even when provided evidence to the contrary. In psychology, researchers have a name for this stubbornness — confirmation bias. It’s one of the most common of biases humans hold in their mind, called cognitive biases.
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Confirmation bias is the tendency for a person to interpret or remember information in a manner that simply confirms their existing beliefs. It is one of the strongest and most insidious human biases in psychology, because most people are unaware they are doing it. It is the invisible voice inside our heads that always agrees with what we say, no matter the facts.
Confirmation bias, also referred to as myside bias, exists in our everyday decisions. We primarily rely on evidence that supports our opinions and beliefs, and disregard anything contrary to those beliefs. This bias can emerge in a number of different ways:
How we search for & find information
How a person searches for information can significantly impact what they find. Imagine a scientist who has a hypothesis they want to test. Most scientists don’t come at a hypothesis out of the blue. It’s usually based upon their existing beliefs and other data they’ve researched. So by asking a new research question in a specific way, they can subtly bias their search for information, finding exactly the results they thought they would find.
Lawyers are adept at helping people draw biased conclusions by asking questions in a leading manner. “So you can’t prove you were asleep at 3 am when the victim was murdered?”
Social media “filter bubbles” make it very difficult to undo confirmation bias.
In today’s world, “filter bubbles” — when social media websites tailor their feeds to show you exactly what it is they think you want to see — make it very difficult to undo confirmation bias. If you believe in UFOs, YouTube or Facebook will be happy to confirm the existence of UFOs in a never-ending stream of new videos and posts providing confirming evidence of them.
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How we interpret information
Even when given the exact same evidence, people who hold conflicting views on an issue may arrive at opposite conclusions. For instance, when shown data that gun control laws help reduce the murder rate in a state, a gun control advocate might say, “See, the data support more gun control laws.” A proponent of fewer gun control laws might look at the same data and say, “It’s simply a correlation, and all good scientists know that correlations don’t prove causal relationships.”
Not only can we look at the same information and reach two opposite conclusions, we will often require more stringent standards for evidence that competes with our existing beliefs. In the above example, the gun proponent might further suggest, “Show me the longitudinal, controlled study that clearly demonstrates this relationship over time, in multiple geographical regions, across all genders and race, and in both urban and non-urban settings.”
How we remember information
Some jokingly refer to this bias as selective recall, when a person only remembers the information that confirms their existing beliefs. Couples often bicker remembering relationship incidents differently.
“You were rude to my father when you spoke to him last.”
“I don’t remember it that way, I just thought I was answering his questions and didn’t have much else to say.”
It appears that information matching our previous expectations is more strongly encoded than information that is contradictory to those expectations. Memory is also dependent upon emotional state, so memories made during an emotionally charged time may be better encoded than others. In recall, such emotional memories may override the facts of the situation.
What can you do about confirmation bias?
Now that you know about confirmation bias, the obvious question is how can you prevent it from influencing your every decision? The short answer is that there is no easy way to do this. That’s because this bias — like all cognitive biases — is typically unconscious. Most people are unaware they’re engaging in confirmation bias.
What you can do is learn to challenge yourself more in your everyday preconceptions — especially those areas where you feel very strongly about. The more strongly we feel about an issue, the more likely confirmation bias may be at work. Seek out competing explanations and alternative viewpoints, and try and read them with an open mind.
While it may not do away with confirmation bias in your life, it may help make you more aware of when it may be functioning. And that could go a long ways in helping you better understand your own self.
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Stillness in the Storm Editor: Why did we post this?
Psychology is the study of the nature of mind. Philosophy is the use of that mind in life. Both are critically important to gain an understanding of as they are aspects of the self. All you do and experience will pass through these gateways of being. The preceding information provides an overview of this self-knowledge, offering points to consider that people often don’t take the time to contemplate. With the choice to gain self-awareness, one can begin to see how their being works. With the wisdom of self-awareness, one has the tools to master their being and life in general, bringing order to chaos through navigating the challenges with the capacity for right action.
– Justin
Not sure how to make sense of this? Want to learn how to discern like a pro? Read this essential guide to discernment, analysis of claims, and understanding the truth in a world of deception: 4 Key Steps of Discernment – Advanced Truth-Seeking Tools.
Stillness in the Storm Editor’s note: Did you find a spelling error or grammatical mistake? Send an email to [email protected], with the error and suggested correction, along with the headline and url. Do you think this article needs an update? Or do you just have some feedback? Send us an email at [email protected]. Thank you for reading.
Source:
https://psychcentral.com/blog/the-psychology-of-confirmation-bias/
There are hidden dangers in the “blindness of polarized points of view” where each believes they are right and the other wrong.
Here, hidden within the burned out lifeless portions of our very Hearts, hatred lives still, and hatred and love cannot co-exist in the same space.
Just notice how heartlessness can quickly emerge when two polarized points of view, each with their now, extremely entrenched, deeply denied, emotional charges, become triggered when these ‘polarized points of view’ finally come to head. Here entrenc
hed points of view ‘locked and loaded’ can quickly turn anger into murderous rage.
“Who will back down first, and how far…?
I’m right, they’re wrong…!
If I back down first I will simply die and that can never be allowed…!”
It is reminiscent of a magnetic field in which two north poles of a magnet forever push against each other making coming together impossible.
Without magnetic, emotional movement of these underlying emotional charges privately with yourself first, any effort to expand ‘your’ viewpoint beyond your present locked-in polarization, will not meet success. Without self forgiveness and unconditional self acceptance in the Heart, opposing polarized viewpoints cannot be changed.
When you have privately moved enough of these underlying emotions first with yourself rather than with the ones you feel are sure to blame (Divine Messengers that carrying your denials back to you), you will reach a point in your search for a path beyond this ‘polarized madness’, where you will be able to see that everything you deem unacceptable within them will most assuredly be found hidden in a state of denial within you.
Everything you see in them that you have judged as unacceptable is being caused by you and the strength of your denials.
When you hold those very same judgments against yourself and do so in a state of self denial rather than a state of Loving self acceptance, your denials will now have accredited enough magnetic power to manifest the experience of it in reverse.
What you judge as unacceptable within yourself and hold in a state of denial, will ALWAYS create a reality that judges and denies YOU, without exception.
Once you have reached this level of understanding through self acceptance you will have begun the process of birthing new love within the Heart where once only death creating heartlessness resided.
“The long, painful and difficult search for True Understanding and Balance has been almost entirely co-opted into obscurity by point of view.” – Ceanne DeRohan