Confirmation Bias

The confirmation bias is a biased decision making process, based on preexisting opinions. Usually, when someone experiences or acts on a confirmation bias, it is unintentional. While this is a simple, basic definition, confirmation bias has numerous implications, both positive and negative, and affects on almost everyone. This type of bias occurs when you see or hear something that supports an opinion or belief you already have, so you store it internally as evidence for your belief. The main problem with confirmation bias, is the flip side. When you see or hear something that is in opposition to your thoughts, you ignore it or even forget about it entirely. 

Some scientists believe the confirmation bias is our brains way of sorting through the large amount of information that comes in and out of it each day. By sorting out things we don't initially agree with, it relieves us of potential mental conflict and extra stress. These positives are little, and easily debatable, but they do exist.This type of bias typically has negative effects, but there are some possible positive outcomes. For example, if you have lived your whole live believing a person in a dark parking lot is dangerous and will harm you, and you have only ever paid attention too news stories where that happens, you will most likely flee an scenario like this instantly. This bias based on stories you have payed attention to could save your life. 

More commonly, the confirmation bias could hurt you or the people around you. It heavily reinforces stereotypes for certain groups of people. Whether its race, gender, sexuality, class, or political parties, everyone has preexisting opinions about these things. The confirmation bias can also be referred to as the 'myside' bias, aka the lack of motivation to pay attention to things I do not already agree with. The implications of this bias are endless, it effects our daily lives more than we realize. Some major areas of implication are in law, medicine, and relationships. A serous example of this could occur if a doctor comes into an appointment with an assumption about what a patient has. If some of the evidence found during the appointment relate to the diagnosis the doctor has in her head, she may ignore the things that do not, and give an incorrect diagnosis.  

Another example could be if an eye-witness does not have a clear memory of who robbed the person across the street, but has always believed that a certain race is more violent, and only ever payed attention when that race is in trouble on the news, they may accuse the wrong person (and confidently). 

Social media has strengthened the confirmation bias. We are unable to click 'not interested' or 'see less like this' on posts that relate to things we do not agree with, which results in more of the things we do agree with popping up. The confirmation bias, while it filters less information into our brains, it also restricts our ability to have open minds. People are more likely to refuse new information, even if its true, just because all other evidence they have seen (more like payed attention to) says otherwise. Because social media emphasize this, our generation is at a higher risk to its effects. We must do our do-diligence and fight to keep an open mind and learn things from every opinion possible, even if its uncomfortable.