Confirmation Bias—it's our Achilles heel!
And if we're not careful, it'll be the end of us.
Arguing to be right seems to be a popular pastime these days. One that's seemingly undermining society’s ability to not only get along but also move forward with important social and political policies. If we’re not careful, the divisiveness that’s encouraged and even celebrated on this planet could contribute to our undoing.
Tell me where you get your news, and I bet I can guess your thoughts on the origin of COVID, the war in Ukraine, and what’s going on in Gaza. Our beliefs are shaped by the news sources we trust, and that “trust” is part of the problem. We tend to go looking for messaging that reaffirms us being “right.” It’s how we’re wired. Our egos love to protect our beliefs because we form part of our identity by who and what we associate with, which gives us a bias that we unconsciously love to reaffirm—crazy, I know!
It doesn’t make us bad people; it makes us human. However, as humans, we’re beholden to recognize when we get comfortable existing in an echo chamber. Why? Because it limits our growth. Regardless of how good it feels to perceive ourselves as being righteous for our correct and superior opinions, when we challenge them, it helps keep us in check. My favourite question for this is asking myself, “What if the opposite were true?” Ugh. Try that on with your Sunday morning cappuccino and croissant while you read your favourite newspaper. Hello, indigestion! However, it’s a useful hack for maintaining a broad and healthy perspective.
That said, it doesn’t come easy to us humans—especially when comparison is involved. There’s a great TED Talk that delves into this phenomenon called Why You Think You're Right—Even If You're Wrong. Julia Galef, a young American researcher, explains this predicament by identifying two distinct designations she refers to as “Soldier Mindset” and “Scout Mindset.”
A “Soldier Mindset,” think Carol Dweck’s Fixed Mindset, is just like it sounds—content with what it knows. There’s no inherent desire to be open to learning more because it believes it knows enough to form its opinion and operate effectively. It’s fueled by what she refers to as “motivated reasoning,” where our search for information isn’t driven by a rational desire to expand our knowledge through facts but instead through emotions—like the emotions we feel when we believe we’re right and others are wrong.
This mindset contributes to and encourages the tribalism we see play out in politics and society daily—not a good look for any of us!
The antidote Galef offers up is what she names the “Scout Mindset” or Growth Mindset using Dweck’s language. In order to experience life through this lens, as the term suggests, one has to remain open to new ideas, curious as to what more there is to learn, and most importantly, vulnerable enough to admit when they may have believed something that ultimately was proven wrong—not always an easy task, especially when we rely on one source for our information.
Before COVID, I was a CBC junky. For more than two decades, I began and ended my day with what I considered their trusted news. With the onset of COVID, I soon realized there was a narrative being pushed that conveniently lined up with what the government was selling. I haven’t watched or listened to CBC since. Do I miss it? You better believe it—every morning. But what I don’t miss is having one news network determine what’s true and what isn’t for me.
But it’s not just CBC; it’s all of them. Every mainstream news outlet is paid to push a narrative. Whether it’s left or right-leaning, it doesn’t matter. All of the news is bought and paid for. Therefore, is it any wonder we’re in the mess we’re in? The mainstream news is tasked with creating division and hatred, full stop—it’s what pulls us back in. In fact, there are studies that confirm the bias that exists in the news—on both sides of the political spectrum.
Whether it’s CNN or Fox News, their selective exposure means viewers are more likely to encounter information that confirms their biases, widening gaps between groups, and reinforcing echo chambers. Social media plays the same game. Analytics based on what you follow or engage with has the platform feeding more of the same to keep you coming back for more. And that “more” is fed by your need to reinforce that you’re right!
Don’t believe it? Try clicking on some stories that follow a similar theme for a day and see what starts showing up in your feed. I have a friend with whom I share hilarious cat and dog videos. We started about a year ago, and now that’s all I get in my feed—ugh!
“What if the opposite were true?” Let’s throw that question at the mainstream narrative that has us believing we are all very different, and those who don’t believe what I do are deserving of my vitriol and disdain.
A few years ago, I was a big Rich Roll Podcast listener—lots of great guests and conversations about high performance and how to achieve it. On one particular show, Robbie Balenger, an ultra-marathoner who ran across the United States, shared an interesting discovery he made during his record-breaking run. Belanger, from California, confessed that he was nervous about running through the so-called “Red States” but soon realized that the divisiveness portrayed in the media that fed his fear didn’t fully match the generosity and friendliness he encountered firsthand. He sheepishly admitted that it was the “Red States” who offered up more support for him than his own peeps found in the “Blue States.” A good lesson for all of us! And kudos to him for sharing his uncomfortable insights. Imagine if news anchors did the same.
I can relate to my unsettling hack, too. By 1997, Robyn and I had been dating for a number of years, and I had certainly watched my fair share of her middle-distance running events. During that time, she achieved a mishmash of results; some first-place finishes and others not so much. However, one thing had become painfully clear to me—Robyn did not buy into the same pre-race process or race strategies that I did. In fact, hers were the polar opposite of what I had been taught, believed, and utilized.
For example, she didn’t race to win medals; there was no chase in her competitive world, nor was there bravado when she won and, conversely, certainly no shame when she lost. She didn’t hate her competitors, either. She didn’t see the track as a battlefield and the race as a war. Instead, she ran because she loved running. And before the races, the most infuriating part for me was watching her hug her competitors and wish them well. WTF—I had never met anyone like her! If I’m honest, I found her process embarrassing.
Eventually, I got to a place where I realized I couldn’t argue her results anymore. She was a world-class athlete, consistently ranked in the top ten for a reason—she was fast as hell because her process and strategies got her there.
In hindsight, my incessant pushback wasn’t because I wanted Robyn to embrace my beliefs to help her perform better. Not at all. Instead, it was because I wanted to be right. I wanted her to acknowledge that what I had been taught as a young athlete and embraced for all those years was THE way to achieve high performance. Finally acknowledging that Robyn was “right” meant my ego had to concede I had been misled, wasting years of training and racing following an ideology that inhibited my growth and potential. Ouch!
If I’m really honest, it wasn’t just admitting that I was wrong; it was also admitting that my coach was wrong—a man and ethos I had defended loyally for decades. Admitting Robyn was right inferred that I had somehow betrayed an icon—a legend I and many others had faithfully followed.
So, my question, “What if the opposite were true?” isn’t just sort of true; it’s painfully true. And there’s no greater regret in my life than wishing I had been taught and embraced Robyn’s approach during my own athletic career. In this instance, it’s easy for me now to appreciate that my need to feel “right” interfered with every aspect of my athletic pursuits.
So where to from here? Well, perhaps Covey’s Habit #5 is the ticket; “Seek first to understand … .” If that were our default, we’d all be better off. However, as I touched on earlier, be careful where you go seeking. Whether it’s mainstream news or social media, you have to go in with eyes wide open and a good dose of skepticism.
I haven’t watched “The News” in over five years. How do I stay informed? I rely on many opposing sources to “do my own research”—something we used to call reading before it was bastardized by, shocker, the mainstream media.
In any regard, as our young TED Talker first encouraged us years ago with her findings, we have to embrace a Scout Mindset in our daily interactions, constantly remaining vigilant with openness to new ways of thinking and understanding the world and the many complex issues we face. If we can manage this, we can manage anything.
Great piece, Jason. Your description of Robyn running because she loved to run struck me as the essence of who she is as an athlete and human being. Love as a competitive strategy, right?