Confirmation bias ppt Flashcards
What is bias?
Bias is when people show a conscious or subconscious preference towards a specific idea or line of thought. Bias is especially prevalent in situations where something is more subjective, or is hard to prove, like religion, which is one of the most well known platforms for bias. Both sides of the argument are usually biased, because they don’t mention, discredit or ignore the arguments against their viewpoint, sometimes because of confirmation bias.
Effect: Polarisation
The people of the internet are further pushed towards polar ends of these political debates and are further divided in their opinion
Effect: Unnecessary debate
These feedback loops also result in unnecessary and uneducated debates as people argue without full knowledge of the situations and underdeveloped opinions
Effect: Empathy and internet rage
Confirmation bias results in people that are so sure of their opinions, whether they are correct or not, that they are willing to cause fights and dehumanise others who have differing opinions.
Effect: Fake news
The spread and belief of these fake articles and disinformation are heavily furthered by confirmation bias and feedback loops. Fake news already has negative effects that are now worsened.
Effect: Ethical
These social media superpowers need to navigate the ethical concerns relating to how their algorithms influence people’s opinions and actions, but this is a very new field and it is very hard to pinpoint responsibility
Solution: Diversity
One of the best ways to avoid confirmation bias and the strategy I use is to explore content that argues both sides of every argument and not to formulate opinions before thoroughly researching them. This is especially necessary for socio-political issues and preventing fake news
Solution: Fact check
Before ever spreading information about important topics or engaging in debates it is best to do fact checking by using fact-checking websites, researching reliable sources and cross-referencing articles.
Solution: Discussion
One of the easiest ways is to have civil discussions and debates about these topics, where you can hear a diverse set of opinions and have second opinions on validity and truth of information.
End
I think it is our responsibility as scholars and educated people to do our part in researching and validating information before acting on anything.
