A person grows up believing something they were presented with and over time believes its fact. Not only has the time cemented the belief but supporting information from people or institutions they trust or see as authority has also confirmed it. Later in life, information comes along on the contrary of said belief. The person not only doesn’t believe it but gets frazzled or upset, dismisses the new information immediately attempting to restore their current beliefs. This is a form of Cognitive Dissonance. I’m going to focus on the attempt to restore current beliefs. This piece involves the tendency to process information by looking for, or interpreting, information that is consistent with one’s existing belief. It’s called Confirmation Bias. This can cripple you not only in business but also personal development. It clouds the ability to be introduced to and process new information. It stops the ability to react to the information and utilize it.
I’ve been introduced to many pieces of information recently in life that completely went against what I believed as fact. I was never one to get attached to anything, so I didn’t really experience the shock and awe most people do. I do see it in others that don’t have the same laissez-faire attitude about information. New information is an opportunity to learn. It can either confirm what you believe, or you learn you were wrong/what you believed was false. I can’t understand the human instinct of staying with one belief out of fear you are wrong. That goes against logic. You’d rather tell yourself you are correct, confirming with information used to give you that thought in the first place than utilize opposing data to confirm your thoughts or change your stance based on the new information.
I’m not here to change any minds about anything but I will tell you to be aware of Confirmation Bias. If you only reference what you believe to reassure your belief, what is really being accomplished? Pay attention to the way you feel when you are reading/listening to new, more importantly contrary information to your beliefs. The desire to continue will be low and you may stop. Stopping is the way out and should be a red flag to you. It’s confirming your confirmation bias and you shouldn’t ignore it. It’s easy to do without knowing it exists but now you know.
In closing, if you overcome this you can continuously grow and learn things most people never give themselves the opportunity to. They are too proud. Too smart. Too correct. There is no way what they “know” is wrong. No way what they have been told is false. It can’t be. The information has been around so long. It’s been written in history books. What are they supposed to do question history? Yes. Question everything. Research. Learn. Think. Be open to being wrong. There is no guarantee you are, but you may surprise yourself.
Food for thought…you do the dishes.
