Sustaining Belief: Confirmation Bias.

Now we move into a bit of technical area, with a good description of the way science is studying how belief systems are maintained. At first glimpse it seems science is adding only labels to the conversation, but on deeper thought what these labels signify is that there is a body of careful study going on in the field. From that it's probably fair to say that over the years there's been some good understanding developed of the dynamics and the parameters involved.

Michael Eades is a physician whose writings I have followed for 15 years or more, an earlier adopter and advocate of the notion that carbohydrates are problematic in human nutrition. "Early adopter" in a field like this is a polite way of saying Rebel and Damned Proud of It, and I felt fortunate to find his carefully reasoned, well-documented and human-friendly writing when I did. I continue to subscribe to his blog, where he writes about Nutritional science and anything else that strikes my fancy. I am not, by the way, happy to see that he has followed the medical model of hawking supplements over the internet. Talk about cheesy.

The term researchers have come to use for selective attention and validation in maintaining belief systems is Confirmation Bias. Dr Eades:

To show how the confirmation bias is built brick by brick, let us turn to politics.
[Let's] Assume we come to politics a tabula rasa, starting at zero.
Imagine yourself at the very top of the pyramid of knowledge and belief. Right at the apex, there is no knowledge or belief. You are a political newborn, so to speak.
At the base of the pyramid, the knowledge level is deep and wide. On the right side of the base is where all the conservative ideals, knowledge, and insights lie. On the left side live the liberal ones.
When you start at the top, you get tipped down one side or another. Maybe it’s a column you read, or a talking head on TV, or a parent, teacher, or friend. Doesn’t really matter, but somehow you get tipped to one side or the other and start rolling down that side of the pyramid, gathering ideology as you go.

You establish your rudimentary political views, and, as you start rolling down, you read more, you engage in discussion, you watch cable channels that mirror your views, and you, in general, become more entrenched in your ideology. All the way down you continue to confirm your ever-growing bias. Once you have reached the bottom, you have marinated so long in your particular political sauce that you can’t possibly understand how anyone could not believe the same way you do. In fact, you are certain that anyone who doesn’t is a completely misguided idiot.
It never occurs to you that others may have tipped and rolled down the other side of the pyramid. They, too, have reached their side of the bottom and are completely infused with the righteousness of their own beliefs and cannot imagine how someone could be so stupid as to believe any differently.
What is even worse is that many of us who have rolled down our own side of the pyramid refuse to even read anything written by one who has rolled down the other side. You don’t want to learn anything that might throw you into cognitive dissonance, so you renounce it as trash, unworthy of your reading, and move on. We’ve all done this at some time or other.
We work hard never to let opposing views penetrate our consciousness in an effort to avoid the unpleasant sensation of cognitive dissonance. The confirmation bias is the tool we use.

If I were writing this I'd eliminate the implication that somehow this is a problem process. He writes this way because he's had an unpleasant encounter with a correspondent who exhibited arrogant confirmation bias.

He is also an important contributor in a field that has been simply overrun with what appears to be an abuse of a belief system for political and financial gain, the field of human nutrition.

But I hasten to add that belief systems represent an invaluable process that enables us to maintain our sense of balance and direction in a chaotic world.

Our beliefs are the operating system of the psychic and spiritual gyroscope. They keep us going even in the face of challenges.


I'll finish this posting with a quote that takes us back to Religion. Belief. Cosmos.

Belief: Holding steady in a storm.

A belief system serves an essential purpose, supporting our efforts at going in a purposeful direction in the midst of life's storms. It's designed to withstand buffeting, and we can thank God for that. Every system has its gyroscope. In the human psychic system, that is the set of interlocking, interacting beliefs.

A belief is a working hypothesis, a conclusion based on experience to this point in time. We can adopt an As If attitude to use as a guide for planning and anticipating, yet still stay open to new learning as experiences continue to come in. In which case we adopt new beliefs to use in navigation.

Because the terrain we are navigating is ever-emerging, our belief system requires calibration, maintenance and systematic recalibration. It becomes useless and dangerous when it is outmoded, incomplete, improperly set.

There may be one True North, but a useful navigation system includes a growing and evolving map of the local terrain as well as of the far destinations.