12-11-2009, 08:38 AM
I believe that what we in Puna are experiencing regarding the debate on mandatory vaccination theories is related to the following from Wikipedia...
Confirmation bias
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
Confirmation bias (or myside bias[1]) is a tendency for people to confirm their preconceptions or hypotheses, independently of whether or not they are true. People can reinforce their existing attitudes by selectively collecting new evidence, by interpreting evidence in a biased way or by selectively recalling information from memory.[2] Some psychologists use "confirmation bias" for any of these three cognitive biases, while others restrict the term to selective collection of evidence, using assimilation bias for biased interpretation.[3]
People tend to test hypotheses in a one-sided way, focusing on one possibility and neglecting alternatives.[2][4] This strategy is not necessarily a bias, but combined with other effects it can reinforce existing beliefs.[5][2] The biases appear in particular for issues that are emotionally significant (including some personal and political topics) and for established beliefs that shape the individual's expectations.[2][6][7] Biased search, interpretation and/or recall have been invoked to explain attitude polarization (when a disagreement becomes more extreme as the different parties are exposed to the same evidence), belief perseverance (when beliefs remain after the evidence for them is taken away)[8], the irrational primacy effect (a stronger weighting for data encountered early in an arbitrary series)[9] and illusory correlation (in which people falsely perceive an association between two events).[10]
Confirmation biases are errors in information processing, as opposed to the behavioral confirmation effect (also called self-fulfilling prophecy), in which people's expectations influence their own behavior.[11] They can lead to disastrous decisions, especially in organizational, military and political contexts.[12][13] Confirmation biases contribute to overconfidence in personal beliefs.[7]
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
Confirmation bias
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
Confirmation bias (or myside bias[1]) is a tendency for people to confirm their preconceptions or hypotheses, independently of whether or not they are true. People can reinforce their existing attitudes by selectively collecting new evidence, by interpreting evidence in a biased way or by selectively recalling information from memory.[2] Some psychologists use "confirmation bias" for any of these three cognitive biases, while others restrict the term to selective collection of evidence, using assimilation bias for biased interpretation.[3]
People tend to test hypotheses in a one-sided way, focusing on one possibility and neglecting alternatives.[2][4] This strategy is not necessarily a bias, but combined with other effects it can reinforce existing beliefs.[5][2] The biases appear in particular for issues that are emotionally significant (including some personal and political topics) and for established beliefs that shape the individual's expectations.[2][6][7] Biased search, interpretation and/or recall have been invoked to explain attitude polarization (when a disagreement becomes more extreme as the different parties are exposed to the same evidence), belief perseverance (when beliefs remain after the evidence for them is taken away)[8], the irrational primacy effect (a stronger weighting for data encountered early in an arbitrary series)[9] and illusory correlation (in which people falsely perceive an association between two events).[10]
Confirmation biases are errors in information processing, as opposed to the behavioral confirmation effect (also called self-fulfilling prophecy), in which people's expectations influence their own behavior.[11] They can lead to disastrous decisions, especially in organizational, military and political contexts.[12][13] Confirmation biases contribute to overconfidence in personal beliefs.[7]
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
Punaweb moderator