You’re Absolutely Right!
It is what you want to hear and it is way too hard to teach you otherwise…
Around the globe, billions of people are effected by a debilitating mental disorder. It affects young and old alike and, sadly, there is no cure. For a few stalwart souls willing to invest years in its treatment, there is hope of remission. But this dark cognitive bias always remains in the deep recesses of the mind, lurking, waiting, and hoping to assure us we are absolutely right.
It Affects Us All
Confirmation Bias is a disabling mental disorder. It impairs our judgement and causes us to make poor decisions on a daily basis. It impacts how we prioritize our time and our research. It is infectious. Flare ups often impact entire communities and organizations. And much like that cat disease (Toxoplasmosis), most of us are completely unaware we have it.
Lately, it has reached epidemic proportion. Research shows that recent developments like “fake news” are a clear sign that Confirmation Bias is worse than ever. 97% of scientists agree that the data confirms escalating levels of bias on a global scale. The science is settled. Never in the history of mankind has so much bias been released. Without increased regulation and oversight, the bias released on Facebook alone could create a global feedback loop from which humanity may never escape.
You’ve seen it yourself. You know it’s the truth.
You have witnessed its impacts. Each day your Facebook feed is filled with their posts. Crazy political nonsense that only refers to the president by his five-letter last name. Gone is any pretense of respect. They blame him for everything. They claim his intentions are clear. He doesn’t know anything. He wants to destroy it all.
The article’s headlines rarely match their actual text, but they never read it. Or if they did, they chose not to notice because the editorial agreed with their world view. They certainly didn’t do a google search on the author or any of the ‘facts’. They never do. They never seek primary sources. They are just so full of fear and hate.
There is hope.
If you managed to make it this far, there may still be hope. You can fight back. You can overcome confirmation bias, but it won’t be easy. In fact, you need to recognize that you are going to be living with it the rest of your life. And you need to recognize that it starts with you. Until you overcome your own bias, you will never overcome the bias in others.
As an analyst working through my third decade in decision science, I have battled confirmation bias on a daily basis. I have witnessed the euphoria of those who are hearing what they already knew. I have seen the boardroom carnage created by those who did not. I have warned young analysts about spending too much time on decks that merely confirmed the common consensus and I have battled stubborn executives who demanded “answer first” when they really needed a more compelling story line to help reset their beliefs and misconceptions.
But if you are ready…
You have made it this far. Many of the others read the title of this article and simply thought — “yep” without even getting to the subtitle. Still others feared the consequences that were implied by the language I chose from other farcical epidemics. And still others tuned out after plugging either Obama or Trump into the paragraphs ranting about politics.
It is hard to be wrong. It is harder still to admit it. And to admit that you are often powerless in the face of overwhelming confirmation bias, well that is a bold step indeed. Unfortunately, it is also human. For whatever evolutionary, biblical, random, or Matrix-esque reason — humans are wired for confirmation bias. We find reasons to believe we are right. We do it easily. Everything else is easily ignored.
So will you take the red pill? Exploring the rabbit hole is a lot of work. It starts with admitting just how little you know, but from there it is a simple mantra. Challenge everything. Every fact, every authority. Dig deep and learn.
Unfortunately, your brain will try to take short cuts. Your mind will try to convince you that admitting ignorance is embarrassing. You will be tempted to follow the party line, to run with the herd. Just remember, they likely opted for the blue pill — only they don’t remember.
Finally, as a rule — it is never a good idea to operate a Facebook share button while cognitively impaired. Friends don’t let friends share articles written by provocative twitter trolls poorly quoting pseudo-doctors of half-baked sciences ranting about ridiculous research conducted by the janitorial staff of a ‘major’ university, especially some 18 months after that article was written.
Besides, the only people who will take the time to read the article are those who already agreed with you… or an occasional analyst in remission looking for inspiration for his next article. Thanks for reading!
For more on cognitive bias consider:
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