Setting the Mind Free from Cognitive Biases-I
Part I – A brief Account of Cognitive biases
Have you ever taken part in a futile argument for hours, for example on politics, and failed to reach an agreement? On my side, I have done that many times. A common feeling at the end of such an elongated “discussion” is that the other party denies facts. But is it? What if we are the ones denying facts? How could we tell that?
How could we be fair and balanced in judging our ideas and arguments equally as the ideas and arguments of others? How come we all feel we made logical arguments and still couldn’t reach an agreement? Shouldn’t logic be the way to the truth? In this series, I argue that logic is not the answer. You know this when you see even the most learned people couldn’t agree on a single point especially on sensitive issues like politics. But first, I provide a brief review of the scientific literature on the natural tendency for people to be biased.
Several scientific studies on human behavior established that humans have a natural tendency to be biased. This is what is called cognitive bias. Several types of such cognitive biases have been identified and more and more of them are being added to the list. Let’s discuss two of them here, confirmation bias and ingroup bias.
Britannica defines confirmation bias as “the tendency to process information by looking for, or interpreting, information that is consistent with one’s existing beliefs “. A person who is a supporter of a political view or party is likely to visit websites or listen to experts who share his/her existing view. And each time he/she does that, he/she strengthens his/her preexisting view and wouldn’t get the opportunity to improve his/her old views by incorporating ideas from others. Such human tendency locks one’s mind into a narrow tunnel making him ignorant of the bigger truth. We are born to be free what a pity it is that we tend to imprison ourselves like this.
C43H66N12O12S2. The preceding chemical formula is associated with the second type of cognitive bias we discuss here. It is the formula for oxytocin. Oxytocin (also called the “love molecule”) is a hormone that is secreted from the pituitary gland at the base of our brain. The release of this hormone facilitates our social bonding within a group we identify with while on the contrary inducing suspicion, and even fear and hate towards people we consider are from another group.
An interesting experimental study in the Netherlands by De Dreu and his colleagues in 2010 shed light on the role of oxytocin in ethnocentrism. Dutchmen who participated in the experiment were given the task of deciding to pick five people to save using a scarce lifeboat while they had to leave one person behind. The study finds that the Dutchmen treated with an oxytocin nasal spray show a significant preference to select individuals with Dutch names and leave behind those with German and Arab names, compared to a similar group of Dutchmen with no oxytocin treatment.
So, we are sometimes just being deceived by a molecule when we feel that we are making the soundest arguments on topics related to our identities. If someone feels that people from another ethnic or national group are often not making sound arguments, it is very likely that oxytocin is manipulating him/her. And again if someone only focuses on how oxytocin influences the views of people from another ethnic group even when reading this, again it is very likely that oxytocin is manipulating him/her.
How can we then avoid cognitive biases? Answering this question is vital to lead a balanced and truthful life. It also ensures that we are not wasting this precious life of ours by having a life experience that lies on biases or distorted images of the world and ourselves. In Part II of this series, I suggest some potential ways of correcting cognitive biases.
