“Confirmation bias, also called confirmatory bias or myside bias, is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one’s preexisting beliefs or hypotheses, while giving disproportionately less consideration to alternative possibilities.” (thank you, Wikipedia) It is well-trodden territory for anyone who is seriously involved in UFO studies, and in the past has been relegated to these lesser socially significant issues, the concept invoked by believers and skeptics alike.
Recently, however, this type of bias has wheedled a path into the fabric of our entire American social structure, in the current US political sphere. This relentless tail wagging the dog has been employed by big media on the behalf, or as agents, of both political parties to the extent that it has seriously widened the ideological chasm among us.
Facebook friends are no longer because of this. The incessant flow of negativity, sometimes crossing the line of ridiculousness, has polarized us even beyond social media. Not since the Civil War have our houses been so divided.
The negative ads, summoning the best of our confirmation bias, are not convincing anyone to choose a side. Quite the opposite. If anything, they’re reinforcing the rift between our ideological differences. The frenzy has the beginnings of cult thinking on a huge, and frightening scale.
It’s now more important than ever to remember that we’re not Republicans or Democrats or Independents, we’re Americans. And we should do well to understand how we’re being played so unconscionably on an emotional level.