169 Confirmation Bias - It’s Real!

Confirmation Bias, Thinking, Decisions, Emotions, Beliefs

 

Summary

 

Imagine a world where we only accept as truth that which we already believe and ignore whatever we don’t. Actually, you need not imagine it. It’s … what we do. We’ll look at that in our Thought of the Day. Then in the second segment, we’ll see what we can do about lessening its effect on us. That and more on today’s show.

 

Bob’s Thought of the Day

 

We’ll explore:

 

• A reminder about cognitive dissonance, which we discussed in Episode 133: it is one of the most negatively powerful ways a person will unconsciously allow their emotions to keep them from making a correct decision or a necessary change.
• A definition of confirmation bias: “The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one’s preexisting beliefs or hypotheses.”
• Daniel Goleman’s powerful quote, from his book Emotional Intelligence: “The emotional mind takes its beliefs to be absolutely true, and so discounts any evidence to the contrary.”
• An example of confirmation bias from a conversation I recently had on Twitter.

 

SEGMENT #2

 

We’ll explore:

 

• Why people who are suffering from confirmation bias... don’t realize they are doing so.
• The importance of continually asking yourself--especially the more strongly and passionately you feel about a thing--if you might be experiencing confirmation bias.
• A recent interaction when I realized I had confirmation bias.

 

Click to Tweet

 

• How does confirmation bias dramatically hold us back from clear decision-making? Find out in this episode of The Go-Giver Podcast. #confirmationbias  
• The degree to which one suffers from cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias is directly proportional to the emotional investment they have in their current  belief. #confirmationbias
• Stay aware of the possibility that confirmation bias might be running through your thought process, and ultimately, your decision-making process. #decisions
• When it comes to confirmation bias, the most important thing we can do is to continually stop our unconscious thinking and ask ourselves questions. #thinking

 

Resources

 

Episode 133 Confirmatin Bias https://thegogiver.com/2019/01/133-cognitive-dissonance/

Endless Referrals: The Go-Giver Way 

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