Good ol' Cognitive Bias

Hacky McAxe

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Researchers Say They've Figured Out Why People Reject Science, And It's Not Ignorance

FIONA MACDONALD
27 JANUARY 2019

One of the biggest cultural shifts in recent years is the rise of fake news - where claims with no evidence behind them (e.g. the world is flat) get shared as fact alongside evidence-based, peer-reviewed findings (e.g. climate change is happening).

Researchers have coined this trend the 'anti-enlightenment movement', and there's been a lot of frustration and finger-pointing over who or what's to blame.

But a team of psychologists in 2017 identified some of the key factors that can cause people to reject science - and it has nothing to do with how educated or intelligent they are.

In fact, the researchers found that people who reject scientific consensus on topics such as climate change, vaccine safety, and evolution are generally just as interested in science and as well-educated as the rest of us.

The issue is that when it comes to facts, people think more like lawyers than scientists, which means they 'cherry pick' the facts and studies that back up what they already believe to be true.

So if someone doesn't think humans are causing climate change, they will ignore the hundreds of studies that support that conclusion, but latch onto the one study they can find that casts doubt on this view. This is also known as confirmation bias, a type of cognitive bias.

"We find that people will take a flight from facts to protect all kinds of belief including their religious belief, their political beliefs, and even simple personal beliefs such as whether they are good at choosing a web browser," said one of the researchers, Troy Campbell from the University of Oregon.

"People treat facts as relevant more when the facts tend to support their opinions. When the facts are against their opinions, they don't necessarily deny the facts, but they say the facts are less relevant."
 

CrittaMagic69

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Wtf I thought we went back in time.

Btw this research is BS because.
 

Chris Harding

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Researchers Say They've Figured Out Why People Reject Science, And It's Not Ignorance

FIONA MACDONALD
27 JANUARY 2019

One of the biggest cultural shifts in recent years is the rise of fake news - where claims with no evidence behind them (e.g. the world is flat) get shared as fact alongside evidence-based, peer-reviewed findings (e.g. climate change is happening).

Researchers have coined this trend the 'anti-enlightenment movement', and there's been a lot of frustration and finger-pointing over who or what's to blame.

But a team of psychologists in 2017 identified some of the key factors that can cause people to reject science - and it has nothing to do with how educated or intelligent they are.

In fact, the researchers found that people who reject scientific consensus on topics such as climate change, vaccine safety, and evolution are generally just as interested in science and as well-educated as the rest of us.

The issue is that when it comes to facts, people think more like lawyers than scientists, which means they 'cherry pick' the facts and studies that back up what they already believe to be true.

So if someone doesn't think humans are causing climate change, they will ignore the hundreds of studies that support that conclusion, but latch onto the one study they can find that casts doubt on this view. This is also known as confirmation bias, a type of cognitive bias.

"We find that people will take a flight from facts to protect all kinds of belief including their religious belief, their political beliefs, and even simple personal beliefs such as whether they are good at choosing a web browser," said one of the researchers, Troy Campbell from the University of Oregon.

"People treat facts as relevant more when the facts tend to support their opinions. When the facts are against their opinions, they don't necessarily deny the facts, but they say the facts are less relevant."
A lot of it has to do with belief systems, where facts are not required to hold a particular belief, be it religious or tribal.

Anything that appears to them to shake that belief, has to be denied or disproved. It's like a crusade to them.

Because they don't have evidence to argue their case, they make up their own facts, or run ad hominem attacks on the people they disagree with.
It suits their purpose to find websites that support their belief, offering pseudo science and fancy sounding, but illogical, arguments that they can cut and paste or repeat, repeat, repeat, in a mantra.

Their whole world is threatened by logic and irrefutable evidence. Sad.
 

KambahOne

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Researchers Say They've Figured Out Why People Reject Science, And It's Not Ignorance

FIONA MACDONALD
27 JANUARY 2019

One of the biggest cultural shifts in recent years is the rise of fake news - where claims with no evidence behind them (e.g. the world is flat) get shared as fact alongside evidence-based, peer-reviewed findings (e.g. climate change is happening).

Researchers have coined this trend the 'anti-enlightenment movement', and there's been a lot of frustration and finger-pointing over who or what's to blame.

But a team of psychologists in 2017 identified some of the key factors that can cause people to reject science - and it has nothing to do with how educated or intelligent they are.

In fact, the researchers found that people who reject scientific consensus on topics such as climate change, vaccine safety, and evolution are generally just as interested in science and as well-educated as the rest of us.

The issue is that when it comes to facts, people think more like lawyers than scientists, which means they 'cherry pick' the facts and studies that back up what they already believe to be true.

So if someone doesn't think humans are causing climate change, they will ignore the hundreds of studies that support that conclusion, but latch onto the one study they can find that casts doubt on this view. This is also known as confirmation bias, a type of cognitive bias.

"We find that people will take a flight from facts to protect all kinds of belief including their religious belief, their political beliefs, and even simple personal beliefs such as whether they are good at choosing a web browser," said one of the researchers, Troy Campbell from the University of Oregon.

"People treat facts as relevant more when the facts tend to support their opinions. When the facts are against their opinions, they don't necessarily deny the facts, but they say the facts are less relevant."
Not sure I agree with the headline, if you reject a fact that challengers you view just because you don't want your view challenged, surely that is a form of wilful ignorance?
 

Wahesh

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Anyone who thinks the world is flat should be shot, and thrown off the edge. Then, maybe, just maybe, they'll give themselves an uppercut and wake the heck up.
 

Cook

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Anyone who thinks the world is flat should be shot, and thrown off the edge. Then, maybe, just maybe, they'll give themselves an uppercut and wake the heck up.
Also anyone that tells me not to spray my tomatoes, because wait for it the insects deserve there fair share too, there’s enough to around right!! Needs to be shot also....
 

Wahesh

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Also anyone that tells me not to spray my tomatoes, because wait for it the insects deserve there fair share too, there’s enough to around right!! Needs to be shot also....
Insects should worry about not being ambushed by a swarm of hungry lizards rather than eating our tomatoes.
 
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