Confirmation bias when gathering facts vs gathering opinions
June 1, 2021
In this episode, we talk about the bias difference between asking for advice and searching for the truth.
In the previous episode, I talked about how to get advice, the right advice from the right people. And one of the things that I mentioned is to ask people who share in your values. So another question comes up is if you're only asking people who share in your values, then how do you know you're not just confirming your bias? In episode 57, I talked about how to get closer to the truth and we talked about the importance of not confirm your bias and actually trying to prove the opposite of what you believe. And if you can prove the opposite of what you believe, then this is going to help you get closer to the actual facts, the actual truth of what is going on.
When we are asking people for advice though, we are not trying to get to a truth or we're not trying to learn a fact. When we ask people for advice, we are trying to get an opinion. And this is how it differs when you were trying to get an opinion, this is when you want to go after people that share in your values. So I'll give you an example, let's say that I am looking for a really tasty restaurant and me personally, one of the things that I value is I love eating spicy food, like if I'm not sweating by the time I'm done eating my food, then it's not spicy enough.
So whenever I'm looking at Yelp reviews, I will admit that I am actually a little biased because I look for people that I believe will value the same things as I do: spicy foods. So one of the ways that I do this and I'm not saying that this is the best way because obviously, I'm judging a book by its cover. But one of the ways that I do this is I look for cultures of societies that actually value spicy food. So if I see a Thai sounding name or an Indian sounding name and again, this is the wrong way to do it because it's a very, I guess I don't know, you can say that it's just a very discriminatory way to do it, I don't know how else to explain it, but this is the only heuristic that I have. This is a shortcut that I have for me to know whether I will enjoy this food or not.
And if I know if I see a Thai sounding name or an Indian sounding name, it's likely that this person will have acquired a taste for spicy food and I will be able to trust their opinion a little bit better. So I'm looking for an opinion and when I'm looking for an opinion, this is when I want to find people that share in the same values as I do. So, I gave you that, Yelp example, this is a great example of when you're not trying to get to any kind of subjective truth or objective truth, because who's to say what is spicy and what isn't? This is all based off of our own experiences and our and our own feelings about it, right?
So, we want to make sure that we are aligned with people who feel the same way and getting aligned with other people who feel the same way as finding out what other people value, whether they value what you value, and then getting advice in that way. So, this was a continuation from the second episode. If you are looking for advice, then you definitely want to find someone that shares in your values. If you are looking for the truth, then you want to find people that will not confirm your bias but have opposite viewpoints and can help you get closer to an actual fact. Hope this helps this Robin Copernicus. Boom. Bam. I'm out.
Continue your journey with me on my other channels:
When we are asking people for advice though, we are not trying to get to a truth or we're not trying to learn a fact. When we ask people for advice, we are trying to get an opinion. And this is how it differs when you were trying to get an opinion, this is when you want to go after people that share in your values. So I'll give you an example, let's say that I am looking for a really tasty restaurant and me personally, one of the things that I value is I love eating spicy food, like if I'm not sweating by the time I'm done eating my food, then it's not spicy enough.
So whenever I'm looking at Yelp reviews, I will admit that I am actually a little biased because I look for people that I believe will value the same things as I do: spicy foods. So one of the ways that I do this and I'm not saying that this is the best way because obviously, I'm judging a book by its cover. But one of the ways that I do this is I look for cultures of societies that actually value spicy food. So if I see a Thai sounding name or an Indian sounding name and again, this is the wrong way to do it because it's a very, I guess I don't know, you can say that it's just a very discriminatory way to do it, I don't know how else to explain it, but this is the only heuristic that I have. This is a shortcut that I have for me to know whether I will enjoy this food or not.
And if I know if I see a Thai sounding name or an Indian sounding name, it's likely that this person will have acquired a taste for spicy food and I will be able to trust their opinion a little bit better. So I'm looking for an opinion and when I'm looking for an opinion, this is when I want to find people that share in the same values as I do. So, I gave you that, Yelp example, this is a great example of when you're not trying to get to any kind of subjective truth or objective truth, because who's to say what is spicy and what isn't? This is all based off of our own experiences and our and our own feelings about it, right?
So, we want to make sure that we are aligned with people who feel the same way and getting aligned with other people who feel the same way as finding out what other people value, whether they value what you value, and then getting advice in that way. So, this was a continuation from the second episode. If you are looking for advice, then you definitely want to find someone that shares in your values. If you are looking for the truth, then you want to find people that will not confirm your bias but have opposite viewpoints and can help you get closer to an actual fact. Hope this helps this Robin Copernicus. Boom. Bam. I'm out.
Continue your journey with me on my other channels:
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