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Blog #11: EOTO Presentations- Confirmation Bias

 

    Today in class we had presentations regarding a variety of false information. The presentation that took out to my in particular was the one about confirmation bias. There are three types of confirmation bias. These include: biased attention, biased interpretation, and biased memory. 

    So what is confirmation bias? It is our tendency to cherry-pick information that confirms our existing beliefs or ideas. It explains why two people with opposing views on a topic can see the same evidence and come away feeling validated by it. To find confirmation bias, search for, interpret, favor, and remember information that supports one's prior beliefs. 

    Confirmation bias can have a multitude of effects on society. These effects include: it prevents objective opinions, it can influence decision making, and it can influence who you associate with. This bias can also lead us to poor decision making because it distorts the reality from which we draw evidence. According to the Decision Lab, "Under experimental conditions, decision-makers have a tendency to actively seek information and assign greater value to evidence confirming their existing beliefs rather than entertaining new ones." 

    How can you combat confirmation bias? Being aware of your biases is very important when doing this. Furthermore, look at all of the information available so you are not obtaining all of your news from a singular source. This includes looking into a variety of opposing viewpoints so you know all sides to a story. You also have to be open minded and willing to change opinions based off of what other people have to say. If you are only going to find your information from one source just because you agree with what they are saying, does not mean that the information being provided is correct information. 

    Confirmation bias is exemplified perfectly by the world wide epidemic of COVID-19. More specifically, receiving the COVID vaccine. In recent history, mass vaccination has proved essential to dealing with pandemics. However, it has also been proven that the effectiveness of a vaccine is all dependent on thee number of people willing to take it. Once the vaccine for the virus came out, bias emerged rapidly as people sorted themselves into two groups: "vaxxers" and "anti-vaxxers". While arguments deemed somewhat rational from both sides, this bias was the start to the spread of misinformation and false facts. This had a huge influence on society because so many people were hearing false rumors about the effects of the vaccine, leading them to not get it. 

    Overall, make sure you know where your sources  are getting their information from, look into  a multitude of sources to you can hear all viewpoints on the subject, and do not let biased and unbacked opinions persuade you. 

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