“Men willingly believe what they wish.” – Julius Caesar (100 BC – 44 BC), De Bello Gallico

“They were so strong in their beliefs that there came a time when it hardly mattered what exactly those beliefs were; they all fused into a single stubbornness.” – Louise Erdrich

During the political season it’s easy to observe that people see only what they are looking for.  Of course, we all do this—there’s even a specialized name for the phenomenon: confirmation bias.  Maybe you recall the study done with teachers a number of decades ago where ordinary, normal students were randomly divided among the three third grade teachers in an elementary school.  These students were not tested for abilities, they were simply assigned randomly to one teacher or another, however the teachers were told that the students had been selected by intellectual ability, and that Teacher A was getting “the really bright ones—the high achievers” and Teacher B was getting the bottom of the barrel, intellectually speaking.  Teacher C was getting the middle of the pack.  By the end of the first grading period, Teacher A DID have all the really bright ones, but not because they were in some way different than the students in the other two classes.  It was because their teacher was seeing what she believed.  Likewise, the other teachers saw poor performance, or mediocre performance, just as they were expecting.  At the beginning of the school year, these classrooms full of children were about equal, but they performed in accordance with their teachers’ expectations.  The teachers had been “taught” a bias about the children in their classes, and they found it in their students’ performances!  They saw what they were looking for!

Back momentarily to the political scene, which is where I think I started this little ramble.  Let’s say I identify my views as “conservative” and have the perception that specific news commentators report from a “liberal” point of view.  I’ll be likely to scoff and sneer and turn up my nose, noting that stories reported by these so-called liberal commentators are nonsense and plain wrong-headed.  The comments made by politicians on “the wrong side” of the political spectrum will ring false and foolish, and positions held by politicians I endorse will seem reasoned and rational.

But the most interesting aspect of this phenomenon is yet to come: when “my” politician happens to speak out from exactly the same position as “the other guy” (or gal, as the case may be) I’ll be completely convinced that the politician from the other party is dead wrong.  I won’t see the similarity in their positions, and will continue to poke holes in the argument made from the opposing political camp.  I’ve been taken in by confirmation bias.  In other words, I only see the information that confirms my previously held beliefs and have been staunchly certain that it is only my politician who speaks out correctly!

Regrettably, we do this a great deal in areas less meaningful in our lives than the debatable world of politics.  If I believe that people of a given religious belief, or racial background, or hair color, can be characterized in some way, or that my daughter’s boyfriend is destined for a life of crime, it will be almost impossible for me to recognize situations in which that belief is wrong.  The impossibility comes from the fact that I only notice situations in which these individuals “live up to” my biased beliefs about them—and almost never when my biases are inaccurate.  I see only the evidence that confirms my bias, and I am oblivious to those instances (even when they predominate) if they are not able to confirm what I already believe.

More insidious, and the point of this quick article, is this: while this is occurring in all of us at a nearly continuous basis on topics of greater or lesser importance in life, it is very, very difficult to become aware of it as it’s happening!  Our best hope is that, knowing about this tendency, we will be suspicious of our own beliefs.  When I question myself, and push myself to look my biases and beliefs straight in the eye, I’m more likely to be able to sift information more effectively.  Personal integrity requires a mindful, deliberate effort, and will almost certainly not be a total success, but failing to try leaves me at the mercy of my own faulty ideas, beliefs, and biases.