Confirmation Bias (Character Issues #2)

Confirmation Bias

Character Issues Blog #2

One of the fascinating things about humanity is our tendency toward confirmation bias. According to the all-knowing one, Siri, confirmation bias is the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories. It is that tendency (even if unintentional) to hear five facts and only listen to the two facts that support our position. It relates to our tendency to make a decision based on our emotions and then find facts that show the decision was good. In the spiritual world, it is the tendency to believe a particular theology and then go to the Bible to find support for our belief.

An example from politics is from the Obamacare debates. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said of the Affordable Care Act, in 2010: But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” Taken out of context, this was fodder for the Republicans showing the incompetence of the Democrats. However, when reading the entire context of the speech, you realize that the sound bite taken by itself did not represent what Pelosi intended.

An example from Christianity is the Westboro Baptist Church. This church which protests in hostile and painful ways would be considered extremist by the vast majority of Christians, can easily support its theology using the Bible. They look for what they want to see.

We see the same in the debate over homosexuality in the Christian church. Those on all sides of the issue support their position from the Bible. How can one book tell multiple stories? It is because we all find what supports our beliefs, and ignore what challenges them.

Does anyone remember the DC Sniper? Someone how it got reported that the getaway vehicle was a white van. As soon as that was released, we saw white vans everywhere.

We see confirmation bias throughout race relations. We think that “white people are this” or “black people are that” or “Asians are so and so.” Then we look around and are biased toward evidence that proves us right while ignoring everything that challenges our stereotype, and then feel justified in our belief.

There is a beautiful part of the scientific method explicitly designed to combat this confirmation bias in humans, and it is useful in every part of our lives. Once you have a theory about something, it is your job as a scientist to do everything in your power to DISPROVE it. If you seek evidence to prove your theory, you will find it. Instead, do everything you can to DISPROVE your theory, and if after exhausting all efforts to prove yourself wrong, then humbly suggest you may be right.

But what’s the point? Good science and sound logic and right human relations require us to recognize confirmation bias in ourselves and make better judgments. To do so, we must be vigilantly intentional about looking for confirmation bias in ourselves and choosing to accept all data and not just that which supports our belief. We must listen to the people we [currently?] disagree with, the people outside our tribe, to get all the facts. In politics, we can hear the person on the other side of the aisle. In Christianity, it’s good to listen to all opinions inside the church, and even outside, as we seek Jesus’ truth. In our families, we can get the whole picture before jumping to conclusions. In the significant issues of our day like race relations, gun control, global warming, and immigration we can listen to information from all sides before making judgments on what is right. The list goes on and on.

Begin to see confirmation bias in ourselves and begin to make better judgments by intentionally considering all the evidence, not just what supports our initial belief.