The human brain isn’t really equipped to process the volume of information that floods it moment-to-moment. Instead, we’ve developed shortcuts that help make sense of all the people, ideas, and thoughts that pass through our consciousness. This is great for mental efficiency because it lightens cognitive load. But these mental shortcuts also favor our pre-existing beliefs over the new information, generating an unfortunate side effect called confirmation bias. This bias can creep into pretty much everything we do, and gets magnified online where our searches, news, and social connections tend to align with our current belief systems. This presentation highlights key concepts from our article about how confirmation bias affects our lives. These slides examine how confirmation bias works for and against us, explore some of the ways it can wrap us in ideological bubbles, and then address how we can burst our own bubbles of bias. For additional analysis and links to our background sources, read “The hazards of confirmation bias in life and work" on our blog at https://blog.entefy.com/view/315/The-hazards-of-confirmation-bias-in-life-and-work.

1. The hazards of
confirmation bias
in life and work

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This presentation was curated by
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introduction

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“Confirmation bias” is
interpreting new events
using long-held expectations
and beliefs

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You’ve just decided to
buy a blue car
Here’s an example:

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And suddenly you
notice blue cars
everywhere you go

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But there aren’t actually
more blue cars on the
road than before

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Instead, your
decision primed
your brain to
notice blue cars

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This sort of confirmation
bias is harmless—but it
can lead to unintended
oversimplification and
even prejudice

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Understanding how
confirmation bias works is
a great step in identifying
and managing it

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background

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The brain can’t
process all the
information that
floods it

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So it resolves
conflicting thoughts by
reinterpreting them

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Reinterpretation
restores mental
coherency at the
expense of accuracy

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Confirmation bias
lightens the brain’s
cognitive load but
limits understanding

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Let’s look at how
confirmation bias works
for and against us

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UNBELIEVABLE

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Existing beliefs
are strained when
new information
contradicts them

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The brain naturally
favors existing ideas
and dampens conflicts

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We spend 36%
more time reading
about ideas we
already believe in
Example:

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Influences how we interpret information
Dictates what we investigate
Filters what we recall from memory
Confirmation bias:

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INFORMATION
BUBBLES

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The searches we
make on the Internet
generate results that
implicitly support
our beliefs

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Social media exposes
us to confirmation bias too

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Product recommendation
engines are designed
to show us what we
already like

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What happens if
we’re only exposed
to like-minded ideas?
Question:

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Existing beliefs
are reinforced by
an affirmative
feedback loop
Answer:

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BURSTING
THE BUBBLE

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Reducing confirmation bias
starts with acknowledging
the value of different ideas

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And simply admitting
that our own views
might be incomplete

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It’s up to you to
burst your own
bubbles of bias

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