EOTO #2: Reaction to Confirmation Bias

 The death of true knowledge begins by seeking answers without a holistic approach. This attempt to gather one-sided information is the danger of confirmation bias, which is a problem in society today. Listening to my classmate inform us about confirmation bias reminded me of the importance of keeping all avenues open when seeking answers or opinions. ‘Confirmation bias’ by definition is searching for information that validates a pre-existing opinion. Confirmation bias is a threat to the education of our society as it does not lead to deep research or openness to other perspectives. 

I found the confirmation bias presentation interesting because it touched on many of the same characteristics of echo chambers, which was the topic I presented on. Immediately, this gripped me because the tendency to look for information that supports your opinion leads to only surrounding yourself with people like-minded. So, confirmation bias leads to echo chambers.

    The presentation delved into several reasons as to why people commit confirmation bias. One explanation given was our natural tendency to be competitive in an argument. So, if we take a side regarding an issue, we seek justification for our initial opinion so that we feel like winners. This is fascinating to me because I am competitive and love to win in arguments or competitions. However, my desire for the truth outweighs my competitive-nature, as I believe the truth should always win regardless of my initial opinion towards it. This psychological approach of human competitiveness was intriguing to me because I see how someone might think this way.

Another psychological explanation for the prevailing thought process of confirmation bias was heuristics. Heuristics are a way for the human brain to draw conclusions quickly. This correlates with confirmation bias, as people are trying to make quick conclusions without in-depth analysis. The interesting relationship between heuristics and decision-making can be further understood through this article. 

This presentation did a great job taking a holistic approach towards the issue of confirmation bias. I enjoyed the parallels seen with confirmation bias and echo chambers. The psychological explanation for confirmation bias breaks down the barrier it may have, making it easier to bypass this issue when conducting research.