Today's post is just going to be a short one.... "Confirmation Bias".
I was at a course recently, and the instructor presented us with this term. I'm very familiar with the concept, but this is the first I've heard it explained in a very simple way....
"Confirmation Bias : It's when a person has a belief in something, and then tends to see, to really notice and become aware of, anything which supports that belief (conversations, events, objects, anything), and filter out, to no longer notice, anything that contradicts that belief." . Wonderfully simple explanation.
A really good simple example (analogous, not quite the same, but a good starting point)... if you buy an item, say a Honda Civic, you will tend to notice a lot more Honda Civics on the road... or similiarly shaped cars especially if they are the same colour. And if you really believed it was the best car available (at least for you) and had put a lot of thought into buying it, this effect will amplify even more.... you'll notice it *much* more than you would have otherwise !!!
So... confirmation bias is when you've unconsciously decided on what's true, and filter out that which contradicts it, seeing only what supports it.
Remember- a belief is just a representation of "truth" - it is not necessarily what the "truth" is, just what you think it is.... . It's what is "true for you" at that time, and could change as you grow and learn more.
It's why many people hold themselves back. They believe "they can't", and they unconsciously notice only that which supports their belief.... and ignore any evidence that "they can". In NLP terms - they've adjusted their filters to exaggerate what they belief in, and delete or distort anything that contradicts it.
It's something that any NLP practitioner or Hypnosis practitioner has to be aware of - how to spot it, how to break it down, how to re-open the person to possibilities of change and growth.
Very wild stuff - a simple change to the confirmation bias opens a huge doorway to change in the mind !
Having a confirmation bias will limit what you see as available options. This will affect your actions, your choices, and how you react to a situation. If you believe a situation is bad and hopeless... you'll overlook the ways the situation can be changed or improved.
It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy !
For the layman - learn to be objective ! When you believe you can't, question that belief with a "Why Not ?". Look for the reasons you "Can" and start focusing on that, put your attention on the "why you can" instead. If you believe someone doesn't like you - look at the evidence to the contrary... or ask someone to point that out to you, and look at it instead. You may end up changing things, and breaking out of the self-fullfilling prophecy !
For the practitioner - Use your meta-modelling skills ! Look for the generalizations, they will have a lot of inclusions there ("all the time", "you know" (implies a common knowledge everyone shares), etc). Start breaking them down, that'll start fragmenting the confirmation bias. They can have all the resources in the world, but if they can't see that they can be applied to their situation, then they won't be acting resourced in the situation. Once the filters are cleared up so they can see they have options, then you can move on to attaching more resources.
There is one possible exception to the above for when you'd want confirmation bias. It can be used to lock in a highly resourced state, and lock out any beliefs of failure (especially when combined with "failure to feedback" strategies). If someone has a task, and you (or they... this does happen naturally on it's own sometimes) set up a confirmation bias that they can only succeed at it, especially if they never give up, then they will succeed. And any failures won't be seen as failures, just lessons on the path to eventual success. That's a positive application of confirmation bias.
Final Note:
The concept has been around for awhile, using terms of self-sabotage, or self-fulfilling prophecy... usually associated with terms like "filters", "generalizations, deletions, distortions"... but I've never seen it called "confirmation bias" before. It's so much easier to call it that, and then explain it afterwards. And the simpler it is, the easier it is to utilize !
