I mean, on one level, all concepts are "made-up", because people have to think of the idea and coin a name for it. But the idea that human beings tend to notice and remember facts that confirm an idea more easily than facts that don't confirm it, is a bare fact of human psychology. It's not a new idea either. Francis Bacon (considered to be the father of the scientific method) noticed it and wrote about it nearly 400 years ago:
http://peterlevine.ws/?p=13386
So, if someone were to tell you that they know a certain proposition is true, because they have seen the evidence for themselves, and then go on to dismiss confirmation bias as a possible cause for their belief, because they have not personally seen evidence that confirmation bias is real, exactly how barking mad would you rate that person to be?
"Quite barking mad"
:)
good question btw.
Made me smile!
(because I can see straight through it haha!)
Exactly!
And what would you say to someone that tells you they are not being fooled by confirmation bias, because confirmation bias is merely a "made-up concept", and that they know it's only a made-up concept, because they have never seen evidence to the contrary?
It is a very real aspect of the human psyche. "Confirmation bias" is simply a term coined to describe and discuss it.
It's become such a well documented and popularized concept, that I have to question the mental state of anyone who would claim it doesn't really exist.
What do you see on the other side of it?
Made-up? No. It is very real. Consider, for example, the racist prejudices of the Obama administration. When the Boston Marathon finish area was bombed, they immediately went hunting for some imagined white homegrown bubba, confirming their own paranoia over imagined right-wing extremists, making some kind of bloody statement on Patriots Day. He was severely disappointed when the perps were Muslims.
Sometimes factual statistical correlation gets falsely dismissed as confirmation bias. If you read the Quran, you will find where over and over again it goads believers to lie low and wait in ambush when they have the upper hand, and that they will gain the greatest paradise in killing nonbelievers. That brings a body count in the thousands every month, killed in the name of Islam. Yet when, time after time, a high-profile killing comes at the hands of a Muslim, the do-gooders insist that the bomber's religion was not the cause, and anyone who thinks otherwise is a bigot who is just looking for confirmation bias.
You wouldn't believe me.
No, I don't believe it is and since I believe that, then it must be true. See I'm right. Right? Yes.
Relativism is very popular nowadays. It all depends on how a person sees "truth" or if truth is open to our interpretation. I believe in absolute truth, which is not open to my interpretation. I test all my understanding to what God says. I was going to quote a Bible verse but I caught myself to spare you that ha, ha...
Understanding cognitive biases that humans are prone to, like confirmation bias, is one way that we improve the scientific method. By designing experiments in such a way as to eliminate or at least greatly mitigate these biases, we are able to edge ever closer to an objective truth. I respect that you try to find the truth in your own way, but I can't agree with your methods. There are always going to be bible passages that agree or disagree with your understanding, which is why I don't bother much with it.
Possibly not, but why would that stop you?
xD
You've definitely shown that you understand what confirmation bias is, but ironically you have not figured out how to compensate for it. :(
Haha, okay, I liked the irony and subtle illogical juxtapositions in your question, (one could almost miss the irony if reading carelessly), that's all, it spoke to me. Nothing more exciting than that! :)
(okay, also, it was obviously influenced by some religious viewpoints, and I do like a bit of religious controversy, I enjoy it quietly these days (shhh), but enjoy when others are more vocal about it, even if it's subtle!
I stand corrected, something to do with star signs, lol!
