The hazards of confirmation bias in life and work

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This presentation was curated by Entefy, the company building the first universal communicator—an AI-powered communication platform that seamlessly connects the people, services, conversations, contacts, files, apps, and smart things in your digital universe.

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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 informationDictates what we investigateFilters 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 supportour 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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BURSTINGTHE 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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