Confirmation bias and knowledge of truth

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St_Francis

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How can we know that what we believe is true, if we weight what agrees with us more than we do that which disagrees, esp when we have what seem to us to be rational reasons for our weighting system, and knowledge of times when the majority has been wrong?

And I have to admit that I read an article about this, and the biases of the author were shining through like crazy!
 
St_Francis said:
How can we know that what we believe is true, if we weight what agrees with us more than we do that which disagrees, esp when we have what seem to us to be rational reasons for our weighting system, and knowledge of times when the majority has been wrong?

And I have to admit that I read an article about this, and the biases of the author were shining through like crazy!
Click to expand...
If we all start with biases, then we have to hope that our bias leads more generally to the truth than to falsehood. Our biases come from our value-system. We place a higher weight on things that correspond to what we value highest.
Probably the most difficult case is understanding the truth about past events.
Since the truth is what corresponds most closely to reality, we can never really know the truth about events that took place before we were born. We have to judge them through our biases and look at the evidence from a certain perspective (not from a universal perspective since we are just individuals).
We also have to rely on knowledge that other people give us. We can’t study and analyze all things.
So, our bias again will select the persons we trust the most - those people who share our value-system, to provide knowledge about things.

I see that with Catholicism very clearly. We can’t know everything that happened. But we start by trusting the Church, which exists today, as being the same Church that Jesus founded. We trust the Church because that’s where we got the Gospel, which teaches us about Christ - who said He is the Way the Truth and the Life.

So, our biases are all structured around trust of the witnesses that taught us about Jesus.
 
Which biases were shining through? About how confirmation bias works?
 
St_Francis said:
How can we know that what we believe is true, if we weight what agrees with us more than we do that which disagrees, esp when we have what seem to us to be rational reasons for our weighting system, and knowledge of times when the majority has been wrong?
Click to expand...
It depends on the source of one’s bias relative to the topic being judged. Also, a way to lessen the effects is to accept the possibility that you could be wrong about any and everything. A philosophical “failure is always an option” if you will.

Also, attempt to ID “known unknowns” and “unknown unknowns”.
 
Rhubarb said:
Which biases were shining through? About how confirmation bias works?
Click to expand...
[Why Facts Don’t Change Our Minds | The New Yorker]why-facts-dont-change-our-minds](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/02/27/why-facts-dont-change-our-minds]why-facts-dont-change-our-minds)

The last paragraph has a discussion about changing people’s minds on two issues, vaccinations and gun ownership. I disagree with their stance on the latter and believe they have not seen evidence or believed evidence contrary to their belief. Just a bit of irony there…

But there is the crux of the issue. Which of us is correct, and which of us incorrect? Maybe I am wrong, maybe they are.
 
HerCrazierHalf said:
It depends on the source of one’s bias relative to the topic being judged. Also, a way to lessen the effects is to accept the possibility that you could be wrong about any and everything. A philosophical “failure is always an option” if you will.

Also, attempt to ID “known unknowns” and “unknown unknowns”.
Click to expand...
I see what you mean, and I do try to remain open. I have changed my mind on certain topics, so I think I am open-minded. However, I changed my mind based on facts, not based on emotional appeals. Isn’t that what we are supposed to do as rational human beings?

And I do try, with various lines of argumentation, to find weaknesses on them, areas where I do not have enough information, or am lacking a full understanding of the information given.

Bit I can see a problem trying to assess unknown unknowns. How would anyone ever be able to understand or know anything with that?
 
St_Francis said:
How can we know that what we believe is true, if we weight what agrees with us more than we do that which disagrees, esp when we have what seem to us to be rational reasons for our weighting system, and knowledge of times when the majority has been wrong?

And I have to admit that I read an article about this, and the biases of the author were shining through like crazy!
Click to expand...
I was first puzzled and were shined by an argument from Russell: “How there could be some many religions if there is only one God?”.
 
St_Francis said:
[Why Facts Don’t Change Our Minds | The New Yorker]why-facts-dont-change-our-minds](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/02/27/why-facts-dont-change-our-minds]why-facts-dont-change-our-minds)

The last paragraph has a discussion about changing people’s minds on two issues, vaccinations and gun ownership. I disagree with their stance on the latter and believe they have not seen evidence or believed evidence contrary to their belief. Just a bit of irony there…

But there is the crux of the issue. Which of us is correct, and which of us incorrect? Maybe I am wrong, maybe they are.
Click to expand...
The website is down I’ll check later.

The Oatmeal did a comic about the Backfire Effect that discussed this. If you’ll forgive the naughty language in it, I think it’s very informative. He approaches it from a scientific standpoint, cutting studies that says our brains react the same to an intellectual threat as to a physical threat. We try to protect ourselves from contrary beliefs.
 
Rhubarb said:
The website is down I’ll check later.

The Oatmeal did a comic about the Backfire Effect that discussed this. If you’ll forgive the naughty language in it, I think it’s very informative. He approaches it from a scientific standpoint, cutting studies that says our brains react the same to an intellectual threat as to a physical threat. We try to protect ourselves from contrary beliefs.
Click to expand...
Yes, I am reading a book which discusses this at the beginning, and that’s why I posted the question. The book made me think there is no way to know anything, since it seems that people get entrenched in their beliefs. That just seems very strange!
 
reggieM said:
If we all start with biases, then we have to hope that our bias leads more generally to the truth than to falsehood. Our biases come from our value-system. We place a higher weight on things that correspond to what we value highest.
Probably the most difficult case is understanding the truth about past events.
Since the truth is what corresponds most closely to reality, we can never really know the truth about events that took place before we were born. We have to judge them through our biases and look at the evidence from a certain perspective (not from a universal perspective since we are just individuals).
We also have to rely on knowledge that other people give us. We can’t study and analyze all things.
So, our bias again will select the persons we trust the most - those people who share our value-system, to provide knowledge about things.

I see that with Catholicism very clearly. We can’t know everything that happened. But we start by trusting the Church, which exists today, as being the same Church that Jesus founded. We trust the Church because that’s where we got the Gospel, which teaches us about Christ - who said He is the Way the Truth and the Life.

So, our biases are all structured around trust of the witnesses that taught us about Jesus.
Click to expand...
What you say makes a lot of sense. I don’t feel like my faith is shaken by this; if worse came to worst, if we can’t know anything then we can choose and I would still choose Catholicism because it would still be the best and most comprehensive and consistent.
 
St_Francis said:
Yes, I am reading a book which discusses this at the beginning, and that’s why I posted the question. The book made me think there is no way to know anything, since it seems that people get entrenched in their beliefs. That just seems very strange!
Click to expand...
I think any discussion on what we know needs to start on what the definition of knowing a thing is. Like, my brother is a big ol’ dork. And he does something dorky, and I say “I knew he was going to do that.” But, like, my brother could’ve done something different. So I didn’t REALLY know. At least, that’s the camp I seem to fall into.
 
Of course if all we had were our own little minds to discover truth we might very well end in self delusion. Buy, thank God for his grace. Because we all need it to find the Truth. The message of Christianity is not that we are so great that we can find it ourselves despite our biases. But, that we need God’s help in order to do so. That is Truth comes from outside ourselves. And it is a Truth that we can all recognize with the help of God’s grace.
 
St_Francis said:
How can we know that what we believe is true, if we weight what agrees with us more than we do that which disagrees, esp when we have what seem to us to be rational reasons for our weighting system, and knowledge of times when the majority has been wrong?

And I have to admit that I read an article about this, and the biases of the author were shining through like crazy!
Click to expand...
You have just described the protestant “reformers” exactly.
 
fisherman_carl said:
Of course if all we had were our own little minds to discover truth we might very well end in self delusion. Buy, thank God for his grace. Because we all need it to find the Truth. The message of Christianity is not that we are so great that we can find it ourselves despite our biases. But, that we need God’s help in order to do so. That is Truth comes from outside ourselves. And it is a Truth that we can all recognize with the help of God’s grace.
Click to expand...
You make a very good point, when it comes to the Church, and that is certainly reassuring to me 🙂

TBH, I wasn’t thinking about the the Faith so much as I was about other issues. Should one only trust information which causes one to doubt one’s position, or can one still trust evidence for one’s position and not discount it because it may be confirmation bias?
 
Oh, wow, I was thinking over this neurological research, and the answers y’all have given, and I suddenly realized, this is something we should grow out of, or learn to resist. The more humble we are, and the more reason-oriented, the better we will be at not falling into the CB trap!

Thanks to all of you for helping me figure this out 🙂 (ai hope it’s not one of those things most people learned in kindergarten :o)
 
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