THE DECISION SERIES: CONFIRMATION BIAS

We see and experience the world through the lens of our mind's eye. It commands our physical eyes to focus on and collect visual information/data of the world for it to interpret. The world is vivid and clear to us but the reality is our vision is flawed and limited.

Our eyes and mind don't have the capacity to objectively process and analyse everything. We have to be selective and subjective with what to dedicate the limited capacity of our vision to. For example:

- If we're hungry, we scan the horizon for resturants, foods and drinks. These 3 things we see in full clarity but the rest of the street becomes a blur.
- If we're looking for someone in a crowd, the crowd itself becomes a blur and disregarded. We are looking for specific details of a specific person.
- When we are driving a car, the road, other cars and pedestrians are bright as day but the landscapes, stores and things we drive pass are a blur.
- If you're playing a sport or performing with an audience, only the sporting field, ball, players, stage, props and instrument are vivid and important. You may notice and know of the existence of a crowd, camera crew and other things that you have deemed as non-essential, but they are simply distorted forms that resemble what you know they are.

Even before we can process and interpret information, we subconsciously have to tell our vision system what we want to focus on.

When we are hungry, people eating, drinking and foods become more vivid in our vision.

When we feel anxious or fearful, we are scanning our environment to get as much detailed information about potential threats as possible. Every hint of potential danger as a result is amplified in it's intensity. Someone walking behind you that you would otherwise not notice is now a potential stalker. Every dark corner, crack and part of a familiar street now houses all the dangers in the world.

When we are infactuated with someone, they stand out in the crowd, we see all their positive traits and actions. We are blind to their imperfections as they can do no wrong.

When we are indifferent and disinterested in someone, we don't even notice their existence even if they are close to us.

Our vision system is flawed in the sense that we see what we want to see because that is what we are focusing on. Everything else becomes a blur that we are blind to.

OUR VISUAL SYSTEM IS LIMITED

THE CONFLICT OF INTEREST IN OUR PERSPECTIVES

We all have our own biases, whether conscious or subconscious, we are trying to manifest our values and thoughts onto the external world.

This bias is so strong that it potentially can take over our decision making, behaviour and vision systems if we're not aware. For example, when one has an opinion or idea, they will only look for information/evidence to confirm their thinking and ignore/reject everything else. It is rare for an individual to consciously and actively look for information/evidence that would otherwise contradict or prove themselves wrong.

This is where the conflict of interest in our perspectives exist. The mind does not care for the truth, the mind seeks to confirm what it feels and wants to see and manifest. It is an insidious danger that most people are unaware of and as a result are unable to protect themselves from it's influence.

Companies, politicians, and social media seek to further feed into this through subtle exploitation and manipulation. Whether that is through farming your attention and engagement by showing you more of what you want to see through it's social media algorithym, pushing a certain agenda or opinion through echo chambers, and/or brainwashing you into being mindless consumers of meaningless drama, fake news and the latest and greatest things that you don't need.

PRACTICE OPEN-MINDEDNESS AND BELIEF AUDITING

To protect ourselves from this influence we must have the humility to be willing to consider new information, evidence, ideas and perspectives, even if they contradict with our own. To put in the time, effort and work to question and challenge our own beliefs to see if they still hold up, are true and/or still align with our goals and values.

To have the wisdom and understanding that this process is what is mutually beneficial for all parties involved. As this will free us from false and faulty beliefs and systems, reveal if our own beliefs and systems are sound and strong and provide invaluable feedback on improving on these beliefs and systems.