Confirmation Bias

I just don’t get it. People are not wearing masks, shooting some who tell them to do so, catching and spreading Covid-19. I heard on the news about a young man who voluntarily went to a party where he knew some of the people were infected with Covid-19 because he said he believed that the virus was not as contagious or as serious as some people were saying. No one, including himself, wore a mask. He caught the virus and was dead a week or so later. What is going on in that type of brain, and where was any concern for NOT infecting others on the part of those with the virus?

I would like to be able to give you a specific answer—however with about seven billion brains on Planet Earth, each slightly different, that is not possible. It is a question many are having around the world, especially in the US where there are a lot of cases. Every brain appears to have some innate bias, describes as an inclination for or against something. A healthy and balanced discrimination bias based on accurate assessments can help keep you safe—unmanaged, it can be deadly. There is a phenomenon, however, known as a Confirmation Bias. It involves overconfidence in one’s personal beliefs. More tomorrow.