We all do it. Finding in ourselves beliefs and ideals that feel right to us regardless of what science or other credible research and sources have measured out through exacting evaluation.
I recall a morning, listening to one of the common Radio Station on the way to dropping kids off to school and hearing them talk about a student faculty meeting at University of Cape Town (UCT) in which a belief that science was racist was being discussed. The group of students were insisting that Science must be "Decolonised." (To get rid of science completely and start over again.) These students went on to bring up South African witchcraft and the ability to "send lightening strikes at someone" to credit their beliefs. A young man spoke against the notion but was quickly chastised and forced to apologize for speaking up.
"Confirmation Bias is when an individual seeks out information that conforms to their pre-existing viewpoints and subsequently ignores information that goes against them."
Often seen within The Jedi Community at the discussion forums or facebook comment feeds is one's tendency to jump to a conclusion on the other commenters behavior and emotions. We automatically replace the faceless person's words with our own interpretation of the emotions we feel from reading the words on screen. "This commenter is being Rude, Getting Over excited, and being a complete dick." and quick as that, our subconscious takes the reins and we end up believing this to be true without gathering any further information about the person, the words they choose, and why they choose to write what they did. We have already settled into the conclusion that the commenter is a rude individual and needs no further confirmation except of course the one's that support our conclusion. We then compartmentalize the parts that we assume to be true, and reject anything that suggests otherwise and thus, becoming a prisoner to our own self biased conclusion.
It doesn't feel good to be wrong. Much less to admit as much. No one wants to feel bad or discouraged for making wrong assumptions and are more likely to cling to our own bias than admit to fault. It is because of this that one's "Opinions" are strong and easily taken offense when presented with conflicting evidence that may (or may not) batter down the assumed walls of personal Bias.
As Jedi. We are often asked to look into ourselves and question "Is this behavior of Ashla? (Lightside of the force) Is this who I am?" These internal questions are meant to help guide us towards The Journey, Conducts and Knowledge in order to improve ourselves. It is asked of our members to practice Self Confidence, Integrity and Discipline. To be a Knight of Valor "A Jedi Knight must be morally correct in behavior or thinking." - Just Jedi Conduct
By remember our basic teachings of Jedi Conduct we encourage our members to always remember to look outside of their own self imposed bias and to always seek knowledge.
Here are five suggestion to work towards avoiding Biased Confirmations. Write in your journal how you think the five suggestions below might be useful, and give other suggestions of your own findings.
Search for the truth in things rather than what you personally want to prove.
Be objective when approaching something or someone new to your understanding
Mentally “Pin up” (be aware of: ) key points of interest that might generate a conclusive hypotheses
Seek to prove yourself wrong
Double check your previous steps
Posted by: The J.Jedi Keeper
Last Edited: January 15 2017
Posted: June 6 2020