Confirmation Bias
by Jonas Blake on Jun.28, 2010, under Mind Upgrade
We all like to think that our every decision is based on careful, rational analysis of all sides of a subject. That we weigh opposing facts and opinions, and carefully decide on the best option we can. Our decisions are our own, and they are good decisions.
Not bloody likely.
In fact, your decisions are probably based mostly on years of paying attention to things that reinforce your pre-existing opinions, and ignoring things that challenge what you believe.
This is a phenomenon known as Confirmation Bias, which is what happens when your brain uses its amazing filtering powers to filter out everything that you subconsciously think is unimportant. As soon as you think about something, like a movie for instance, your subconscious filter decides that it must be important, so it stops filtering out that movie.
And then you start seeing the movie EVERYWHERE.
Anyway, it is a fascinating feature of our brains, but it can be very problematic. It tends to falsely reinforce our beliefs, which can be dangerous. Beliefs are fine, just be aware of why you believe what you do, and make sure you understand the affect that confirmation bias can have.
To read a little more about confirmation bias, take a look at this fantastic article about it, from youarenotsosmart.com.
Enjoy!
