Your response to your classmates must be substantive. Share ideas, explore differences, and think critically about your classmates’ posts. Bring in information from your textbook, classroom resources or other credible sources that you find to contribute to the discussion. You are invited to share relevant audio, video, or images in your responses. You must cite and reference any sources you use, even in your responses to your classmates. 

PEER RESPONSE:

 confirmation bias is the tendency of people to favor information that confirms their existing beliefs, opinions, or hypotheses. This mindset presents itself in so many ways toward multiple topics. I am sure many of us in this class have experienced someone with this mindset or we ourselves are guilty of it. It appears to be subconscious. I have experienced this with individuals who are passionate about their religion, race, politics, and many other topics. Unfortunately, this can cloud ones sound judgement when making decisions or gathering information. It can steer an individual toward a single path that benefits their biasness rather than being unbiased. 

Confirmation bias can affect researchers of all sorts. Those effected can be scientists, historians, students, and more. This can clearly be an issue if you are one of the few just pointed out. An example would be an Christian who totally disregards and denounce science in its entirety. I believe there is a way to accommodate for both. As stated by Jerry Coyne “In science, faith without evidence is a vice, while in religion it’s a virtue” (Coyne, 2018). It is still of great benefit to understand both rather than become permanently consumed by your own beliefs.

Note: This is just an example!

I have a military background and have deployed multiple times. My major is Homeland Security and Emergency Management. My research question is “How is the U.S. combating terrorism.” Considering these two and my background I actually do not have a bias that I can think of. I guess I do in fact believe that the U.S. is in many ways due to experience and exposure, but I do not consider that being a bias. 

Learning and becoming aware of confirmation bias is extremely beneficial. I believe an individual can not only change poor habits of accusations, poor decision making, and swift judgement. Additionally, one can also learn more about themselves in order to progress and improve educationally, professionally, and personally. When taking action to change it can result in a change of behavior and emotions. It can further impact relationships with those around you positively. 

Reference

Coyne, J. (2018, December 21). Yes, there is a war between science and religion. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/yes-there-is-a-war-between-science-and-religion-108002 (Links to an external site.)

TED. (2016, August 8). Why you think you’re right—Even if you’re wrong (Links to an external site.) | Julia Galef [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/w4RLfVxTGH4 (Links to an external site.)