It has been a few days since I posted, and I was beginning to stress about not having much inspiration about what to discuss next. Maybe because I was too caught up in the social media storm over Damar Hamlin being dead or alive.
For those who might not follow football, Damar Hamlin is a member of the Buffalo Bills who suffered a heart attack during a game, which stopped the game and put the entire league into a fit about what to do, how to handle it, etc. Everyone had some assumptions and made some speculations, but for the most part, I think most were terrified that we might have just seen a man die on TV during a football game. Thank God, this was not the case; after being revived (a few times, I believe) and treated at the hospital, Damar walked out and is on the road to recovery.
The anti-vax crowd couldn’t jump on the opportunity fast enough. It had to be the vaccine that caused this heart attack, and it had to be a giant cover-up by the NFL. They went so far as to insist that because he had a mask on during the Buffalo game last week, it wasn’t really him, and this is all part of the grand conspiracy. Forget the alternative option that he is a sick kid recovering from death and that he has to protect himself from almost everything at this point. On the other side, are people who are very angry that anyone could even imply such a thing and that this kid doesn’t owe internet trolls anything. I personally took an aggressive stance on this because I remember being sick, having to wear a mask everywhere, and overall being frail, and I couldn’t imagine having to “show my face” to appease the internet crowd. I didn’t want my picture taken at all, much less blasted on the internet.
I am not going to spend the rest of this post discussing right or wrong, but what I am going to do is review confirmation bias.
Confirmation bias is a tendency to favor information that confirms your already held beliefs. This is a very human tendency that occurs regardless of which side of an argument a person is on: people tend to seek information that supports their point of view. It influences every way in which we assimilate and interact with information. This is both a weakness and a blind spot in our brains, that we need to regulate quickly.
According to neurologists, all the information we take in via our 5 senses is “meaningless information.” We don’t think or feel about something until our brains assign meaning to it. Well, our brains are sometimes too efficient and ultimately just use the data that reinforces our already preconceived ideas. This is how two different people can come to two different conclusions based on the exact same inputs. Here is the best part: both sides are operating within their limited cognitive biases and are both possibly wrong.
This is true for everything we see people disagreeing on. Sports, politics, science, education, medicine, etc.
For example, if you think the vaccines are causing heart attacks in young athletes, and you see a young athlete have a heart attack, your confirmation bias will create a knee-jerk hypothesis and look for information reinforcing this, and here is the best part: you will find it!
On the other side, let’s say you are pro-vaccine. You will find information to reinforce your preconceived notions and possibly even to attack opposing viewpoints on this subject.
Simply being aware that this is how your brain is designed to work is the first step in helping combat your biases.
So now that you know that you have a confirmation bias (as well as other cognitive biases), what do you do to combat them?
Well, you could do nothing and keep shouting your position from the rooftops, but if your goal is to change hearts and minds, this will not work. Even in the face of hard data, people cling to their biases like security blankets. They double down! It is uncomfortable to reconsider our ideas, so we don’t. (the path of least resistance) You can see it on social media. When people are extra loud and certain of their position, they bark more. Is this because they think they are right? Honestly, no. It is because they are scared of losing grip on an idea that they identify with. We hold on to rigid ideas like they are our children, not just electronic impulses in our brains manipulated by prior assumptions and experiences.
You are not your thoughts or your emotions!
The good news is, how you came to your beliefs doesn’t make you wrong. You are almost an innocent bystander in all of this.
Going forward, however, there are some things you can do to counteract these knee-jerk opinions.
“I am simply trying to help you take the jerk out of knee-jerk”
Michael Maley
- Be aware that we all have confirmation biases, and it doesn’t make you “wrong” or “bad”
- Know that you are welcome to change your mind at any time. You do not need anyone’s permission on this.
- Focus on falsification bias – Confirmation bias can be a strong influence, so you will need to actively look for evidence that disproves your point of view.
- Get a different perspective – Get out of your echo chamber. Approach someone you know who sees things differently from you and ask them what they are seeing. Be open to their ideas and try to explore them.
- Talk with an outside party – Approach a coach or someone you trust to help you impartially explore your thoughts and beliefs without judgment.
