Confirming Our Own Bias?
Fact-checking and cautious skepticism are necessary, not optional.
July, 2021
A key aspect of sincerely seeking truth is recognizing confirmation bias: the tendency to accept what agrees with us while ignoring whatever does not. Or, to interpret observations according to preferences when they should be viewed otherwise. This is not natural, for anyone. Avoid undue influence from bias is extremely important.
Arguably, the most powerful step in overcoming confirmation bias is to accept that you have it. Everyone has it. It's inevitable, and inescapable. All we can do is acknowledge it. As it turns out, the very act of accepting that we are prone to confirmation bias puts us in the right frame of mind to overcome it.
Looking for disproving information is not wrong; it's very important. Think of it this way: no matter how silly a belief might be, if all you read are articles on "how to prove that X is true," you're going to believe in X, whether it's true or not. It's not until you sincerely compare arguments for or against X that you can reasonably say it's the best explanation. That won't change the fact that you may prefer some option about the idea. But at least you can nudge yourself towards a fair assessment.
Attempting to be fair and self-assessing is a very biblical idea. Acts 17:11 shows people fact-checking Paul when he told them things they did not necessarily want to hear. But they checked Scripture, and found he was right. 2 Timothy 4:3 warns about people "accumulating" teachings which agree with their preferences, ignoring the rest. Proverbs 18:17 reminds us that some ideas seem very plausible, until they're fully tested against some other claim.
Probably the strongest indicator that we're not just allowed to seek out possible disproof, but are obligated to do so, comes from 2 Corinthians 13:5. That's this month's spotlight verse. There, Paul explicitly says we are to "examine" and "test" ourselves, and brings up the possibility of failing that test. The only way to "test" and "examine" is to look for both positive and negative evidence! If all we look at is positive evidence, then everyone would always think they "passed," even if 99% of the evidence says otherwise. This same idea is echoed, in less dramatic terms, in 1 Thessalonians 5:19–21.
Of course, this does not mean we should wallow in perpetual insecurity. We're not obligated to take the most fundamental parts of our faith and constantly re-build them from the ground up. We should always be open—in theory—to changing our views. However, the more we've examined and verified a belief, the more reasonable it is to set aside minor objections until they seem more significant.
Nor does this require we become masochists, constantly subjecting ourselves to criticism and abuse about our faith. We can, and should, seek out reasonable counterpoints to what we believe. Part of faith in Christ is knowing that His truth can withstand those tests. Sometimes, our own personal preferences, or traditions, or biases, might not stand up to scrutiny. But that's OK; finding out you were wrong about some detail(s) is not the same as learning your entire faith is void (Acts 18:24–28).
-- Editor
