In recent years, the media, the sciences, and philosophy have frequently discussed the people’s tendency to search for information that supports their belief and distort data contradicting them, this tendency of people to find evidence for their pre-existing beliefs is called Confirmation Bias.
What is Confirmation Bias?
Left-handed people tend to be more creative as compared to right-handed people is a common belief among people, thus whenever one comes across a left-handed and creative person he/she may place greater importance on this “evidence” that supports what they already believe. This is an example of ‘Confirmation Bias’ that happens when an individual gives more weight to evidence that confirms their pre-existing beliefs and tends to undervalue evidence that could disprove it.
It is one of the most widely discussed epistemically problematic cognitions that challenge correction of inaccurate views and reliable belief formation. Also known as “myside bias”, the confirmation bias occurs when a person interprets a situation according to one’s own beliefs and ignores information that invalidates their opinion.
How does it work?
Imagine you have worked very hard on a college application and are waiting for a response from the college you desire to get accepted in, you don’t receive any response for over 2 weeks. In a situation like this, it is easy to jump to conclusions in an intuitive manner that you didn’t get accepted in that college. Here, instead of enquiring with the college, you tend to leave this belief unchecked and start acting as though it were true.
We humans are prone to believe what we want to believe and often seek evidence for the same, which comes naturally to us. Confirmation bias is often motivate by wishful thinking, this leads an individual to stop gathering data when and as long as the evidence gathered so far confirms their views one would like to believe. Disconfirming instances are often more powerful in establishing truth as disconfirmation would require searching evidence that disproves it.
One may find it difficult to face one’s own bias, as not everyone has the same experiences and background, which makes it almost impossible to be completely open-minded. However by coming in terms with one’s own bias can help one in accurate identifying and understanding of the world.
By: Tanaya Poopal
