Brain Belief – Common Questions, 11

Is it difficult to change a belief? Difficulty in altering a belief is linked with several factors, including the type of belief, who taught it to you, whether you “believe” that altering a belief is going to result in some type of negative consequence, and your level of aversion to conflict. Studies have shown that once humans commit to a belief, they tend to employ a confirmation bias, in which they look for and find confirming evidence in support of their belief and ignore or rationalize away disconfirming evidence In one experiment subjects were presented with evidence that contradicted a belief they held deeply along with evidence that supported that belief. They recognized the validity of the confirming evidence but were skeptical of and tended to discount the value of any disconfirming evidence. If it doesn’t hurt anyone else, what’s the problem with an erroneous belief? (more to come)