Critical Thinker
Senior Member.
I am posting this to spur a Meta-level discussion where people can share their experiences in acknowledging and confronting their own biases. Not everyone here has an 'out of the rabbit hole' story, but maybe they have a story to share where they confronted their own intellectual biases.
We all (myself included) can suffer from biases that result in (wanting to give) giving a pass to misinformation (or sources of misinformation) that align with our politics/opinions/beliefs. As an example I believe that marijuana should be legalized with restrictions similar to those put on alcohol or tobacco. There are plenty of 'Memes' out there that make the claim that Marijuana cures cancer and that the FDA is part of an effort by 'Big Pharma' to suppress the cure in order to profit from selling drugs to fight cancer. My position is that marijuana should be legal, but I am an opponent of bunk even when it is 'favorable' to my side of a debate, so I have spoken out against the unproven claim that marijuana cures cancer in humans. It would be hypocritical to only speak out against bunk that is at odds with my own politics/opinions and to remain silent when the bunk is used to support my side of things.
Skeptics and debunkers generally are against the spread of misinformation, but can be blind to their own lack of objectivity when it comes to politics, religion and the core beliefs they hold. Taken to an extreme, a person creates an echo chamber (metaphorically speaking) around themselves that dismisses any (sources of) information that conflicts with their core beliefs. Even worse, they will then blindly support a source that spreads misinformation or that spins/cherry picks information based on an ideology they hold. Society and individuals put labels on ourselves and others, creating a division and making distinctions between US and THEM (ie... Conservative vs Liberal, American vs non-American, Debunker vs Conspiracy theorist).
Something I found to be relevant to the current state of affairs:
The term 'Tribalism' is defined as:
Thoughts, anecdotes, personal stories...?
We all (myself included) can suffer from biases that result in (wanting to give) giving a pass to misinformation (or sources of misinformation) that align with our politics/opinions/beliefs. As an example I believe that marijuana should be legalized with restrictions similar to those put on alcohol or tobacco. There are plenty of 'Memes' out there that make the claim that Marijuana cures cancer and that the FDA is part of an effort by 'Big Pharma' to suppress the cure in order to profit from selling drugs to fight cancer. My position is that marijuana should be legal, but I am an opponent of bunk even when it is 'favorable' to my side of a debate, so I have spoken out against the unproven claim that marijuana cures cancer in humans. It would be hypocritical to only speak out against bunk that is at odds with my own politics/opinions and to remain silent when the bunk is used to support my side of things.
Skeptics and debunkers generally are against the spread of misinformation, but can be blind to their own lack of objectivity when it comes to politics, religion and the core beliefs they hold. Taken to an extreme, a person creates an echo chamber (metaphorically speaking) around themselves that dismisses any (sources of) information that conflicts with their core beliefs. Even worse, they will then blindly support a source that spreads misinformation or that spins/cherry picks information based on an ideology they hold. Society and individuals put labels on ourselves and others, creating a division and making distinctions between US and THEM (ie... Conservative vs Liberal, American vs non-American, Debunker vs Conspiracy theorist).
Something I found to be relevant to the current state of affairs:
in 1993 Alain Mincclaimed that we were returning to A New Middle Age; something, which was later echoed in a number of other publications (e.g. Lindhardt 2003). This“new” middle age was, Minc wrote, characterised by a collapse of the centrein the form of shared and agreed values; the discrediting of institutions; the replacement of optimism by pessimism; the return not of nationalism but tribalism; the rise of religious extremism and fanaticism amongst Jews,Christians and Muslims alike - to name but a few of the characteristics listed in this (still) fascinating book, which seemed to foresee so much of what actually happened since he published it in 1993.
The term 'Tribalism' is defined as:
"The Oxford Dictionary announced a couple weeks ago that "post-truth" is its 2016 word of the year." There have been stories in the News and threads on Metabunk that consider the reasons for the spread of misinformation in America and society as a whole. It is my thought that part of the problem lies in people's lack of objectivity due to Tribalism and blind loyalty to others in their 'tribe'... even when those others are doing things we criticize others for. If people do not face and confront their own biases, this may result in ignoring or spreading misinformation.Tribalism is the state of being organized in, or an advocate for, a tribe or tribes. In terms of conformity, tribalism may also refer in popular cultural terms to a way of thinking or behaving in which people are (excessively) loyal to their own tribe or social group.
Thoughts, anecdotes, personal stories...?