Why do other people take exception to the car you drive and/or eco-mods?
"Confirmation bias (also called confirmatory bias or myside bias) is a
tendency for people to favor information that confirms their preconceptions or
hypotheses regardless of whether the information is true. As a result, people
gather evidence and recall information from memory selectively, and interpret
it in a biased way. The biases appear in particular for emotionally significant
issues and for established beliefs. For example, in reading about gun control,
people usually prefer sources that affirm their existing attitudes. They also tend
to interpret ambiguous evidence as supporting their existing position... "
That's pretty much true for all things. We read/absorb/pontificate (aka "vomit") information that confirms our world view. In the best of cases, self-awareness leads one to vet the source that makes them "feel good".
Sometimes when I am talking with my friend that I am very "in synch" with, I finish our conversation with "And don't forget, we're right and they're wrong!!!". Always good for a laugh.
...ah, but the "saving grace" is that WE'RE (a) aware of our inherent bias and (b) can joke about it, whereas most other people are aware of neither aspect.
(09-06-2010)
