How to cut through confirmation bias
Break free from the veil of your beliefs.
Do you frequently ignore facts that challenge what you already believe?
Are your social feeds full of people who think like you?
Do you often make quick judgments without checking the evidence?
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Confirmation bias is our tendency to favor information that supports our beliefs and dismiss information that challenges them. It is a largely automatic and unconscious cognitive bias that operates both for beliefs we favor and for those we do not. The bias is most noticeable in the case of ingrained, ideological, or emotionally charged beliefs.
For example, if someone believes current immigration levels are unsustainable, they focus only on stories highlighting the disadvantages and dismiss information about the benefits. If someone believes the levels are sustainable, they pay attention only to stories showing the benefits and ignore the disadvantages. In both cases, confirmation bias keeps their original belief intact.
Our minds use confirmation bias as a shortcut to save precious mental energy. Accepting information that supports our beliefs is the path of least resistance and requires little effort. Evaluating evidence that contradicts our beliefs takes much more energy, so we often ignore, reinterpret, or dismiss it. We also show confirmation bias in memory retrieval, recalling supporting memories more readily than conflicting ones.
Because of biases like WYSIATI (What You See Is All There Is), the narrative fallacy, and social proof, many of our beliefs don’t fully reflect reality. Confirmation bias makes it hard to correct these beliefs, and the more a belief is tied to our identity, the stronger this effect becomes. This blind spot narrows our thinking and keeps us from seeing the full picture. As a result, these distorted beliefs can lead us to make poor decisions and misjudge the world around us.
Examples
👉 On a societal level, confirmation bias fuels political polarization. People focus on the mistakes of opposing politicians while overlooking their successes. It reinforces stereotypes, with exceptions seen as unusual rather than prompting a change in beliefs, and helps conspiracy theories survive by making believers accept confirming evidence and dismiss the rest. It can lead journalists to ignore facts that challenge their story and scientists to avoid testing their hypotheses rigorously.
👉 On an individual level, confirmation bias can harm both our self-perception and our relationships. We often jump to conclusions about others’ behavior, and those conclusions are usually wrong. For instance, if a friend doesn’t reply to your messages, you might assume they want to avoid you. If a colleague doesn’t greet you, you might believe they dislike you. Low self-esteem can make these assumptions stick, feeding unhelpful beliefs that you are unlovable. The real danger comes when we act on these beliefs without checking whether they’re true.
👉 Vague or ambiguous beliefs let people interpret information in ways that confirm what they already believe. For example, someone who believes in astrology might notice only the positive events on a day their horoscope predicts good luck and credit them to its accuracy. Conspiracy theorists often see ambiguous or circumstantial evidence as proof of their beliefs, ignoring other plausible explanations. For example, they might interpret a blurry photo of government officials at a private meeting as evidence of a secret plan. Similarly, someone who recovers after prayer may credit it to divine intervention, while a lack of recovery might be explained as part of God’s mysterious plan, letting them maintain their faith allowing them to keep their faith despite evidence to the contrary.
👉 Many business books claim we can achieve success by following the strategies of successful people. But authors often focus only on confirming evidence, ignoring unsuccessful people who used the same strategies or successful people who followed different approaches. The same applies to self-help books. For example, a book might claim gratitude brings happiness, highlighting those who benefited while ignoring people who stayed unhappy or found happiness without it.
👉 Charles Darwin recognized that people naturally favor information that confirms their beliefs, and made a deliberate effort to counter this in his research. He called noting contradictions “a golden rule,” sought out evidence that challenged his views, carefully documented observations that contradicted his theories, and stayed open to revising his ideas. Over time, his theory of evolution by natural selection evolved as he integrated new data, refining his work to better capture the complexity of life.
How to reduce the impact of confirmation bias
While we can’t eliminate confirmation bias, these strategies can help reduce its impact on our thinking and decision-making.
⚒️ Notice your confirmation bias
The first step to reducing confirmation bias is noticing it. After any situation where your beliefs might have influenced your reaction, ask yourself:
🤔 Which belief shaped my response?
🤔 Have I ever questioned this belief?
🤔 What triggered it?
For more guidance, see: Notice your confirmation bias
⚒️ Look for what proves you wrong
Get closer to the truth by seeking not just evidence that supports your beliefs, but also evidence that contradicts them. This is about being curious and asking yourself:
For more guidance, see: Look for what proves you wrong
⚒️ Hold your beliefs lightly
Instead of taking your beliefs too seriously, treat them as mental models rather than absolute truths. See them as best guesses or working theories, not the final word. When a belief stops serving you, practice holding it lightly.
For more guidance, see: Hold your beliefs lightly
Additional tips
👉 Slow down your thinking: Take a moment before reacting or deciding, and use that time to reduce the impact of biases, especially in important or emotionally charged situations.
👉 Write down your beliefs: Putting them on paper helps you identify which beliefs are influencing you and see how they shape your thoughts, decisions, feelings, and actions.
👉 Seek feedback from others: Ask people with different perspectives for constructive insights to uncover blind spots and challenge your assumptions.
👉 Notice patterns in your thinking: Pay attention to beliefs or assumptions you rely on frequently, especially unhelpful ones, as their repeated influence can have a big impact.
👉 Embrace doubt and curiosity: Recognize that feeling uncertain or questioning your beliefs is a sign of careful thinking, not a weakness.
References
Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman.
How to Know Everything, by Elke Wiss.
The Art of Thinking Clearly, Rolf Dobelli
5 Common Mental Errors That Sway You From Making Good Decisions, by James Clear
Confirmation Bias And the Power of Disconfirming Evidence, Farnam Street
What is Confirmation Bias?, WebMD, by Dayva Segal
Why do we favor our existing beliefs?, The Decision Lab
