By Yuval Israel, Year 11
In reality, we are faced with factual information that might not correspond to our emotional bias. Our brain has the tendency to receive a given conclusion and change it to match our emotional beliefs and ideologies. Peter Ditto, Ph.D, a social psychologist at the University of California, argues that we use motivated reasoning within our subconscious.
“Humans are herd animals”, says James Clear. Humans desperately want to fit in, with our looks, thoughts, reactions and of course, ideologies. We desperately want the approval of the society that surrounds us and constantly reviews our actions. These tendencies are essential for our “well-being” and “survival” in this life. Clear reflects the idea that people attempt to perceive beliefs that correspond to a group’s beliefs. He attempts to create an understanding that external influences affect the way we perceive the world. This is called Cognitive Bias.
Cognitive Bias is a “systematic thought process” which is caused a the tendency of the human brain. It enables us to create a false understanding of the world around us. The process is frequently triggered by social pressure, attempting to conform, emotions, and heuristics. Heuristics are mental shortcuts that try to give us quick reasonable or self-explanatory answers. The human brain is a powerful tool but possesses its own set of limitations, so it might not always answer the question reasonably. Cognitive biases are the brain’s feeble attempt to possibly create a false understanding or something you do not understand.
What we often fail to remember is that we are all subject to this form of thinking. We as humans like to think we possess our own set of independent skills; we can think straight, perform our own actions that would correspond to our well-being and opinions, and create logical answers to impossible questions. This is our use of cognitive bias. We think our opinions are the only right answer. So when we receive factual information that could challenge our existing beliefs, we refuse to acknowledge it as it might differentiate us from the “herd”.
We need to understand that our sense of perception will never be completely independent, we are surrounded by social and cultural factors which play a deep role in how we form our opinions. When we are proven wrong we engage in cognitive dissonance and reconfirm our beliefs and plunge even further into the depths of our delusion. When creating opinions, one should be aware of cognitive biases and create awareness that by seeking diverse perspectives we could develop our mindsets.
