Analysing your IQ
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AKA: "The Echo Chamber Effect"
The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses.
Confirmation Bias is one of the most common cognitive errors—and one of the hardest to spot in yourself. This page explains what it is, why your brain does it, and how to mitigate it.
You only read news that agrees with you. You ignore data that disproves your theory. You become more confident, but less accurate.
This bias is particularly dangerous because it operates below conscious awareness. By the time you notice it, the damage is often done.
This error is driven by Cognitive dissonance avoidance. It feels good to be right; it feels bad to be confused..
The mechanism is rooted in cognitive dissonance avoidance. it feels good to be right; it feels bad to be confused.. Your brain isn't broken—it's running outdated software in a new environment.
In investing: Confirmation Bias leads to holding losing positions too long or selling winners too early.
In relationships: This bias causes people to interpret ambiguous signals in ways that confirm existing beliefs about partners.
In work: Confirmation Bias makes it harder to update strategies when market conditions change.
In health: People ignore symptoms that contradict their self-image as "healthy" or "young."
Confirmation Bias has been studied extensively since the cognitive revolution. Research consistently shows that even warned subjects fall for it—awareness alone doesn't provide immunity.
Actively seek out "disconfirming evidence." Ask yourself: "What would have to be true for me to be wrong?"
Seek disconfirming evidence: Actively look for data that challenges your current belief.
Use decision journals: Write down predictions before outcomes are known, then review accuracy.
Consult diverse perspectives: People with different backgrounds spot different biases.
Implement decision rules: Pre-commit to criteria before emotionally charged situations arise.
Time-box decisions: Revisit important conclusions after a cooling-off period.
Some brains are more susceptible to this than others. Test your Intelligence to find out.
The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses.
The alternate name "The Echo Chamber Effect" captures the intuitive essence of the bias. Confirmation Bias is the formal psychological term, while "The Echo Chamber Effect" describes what it feels like in practice.
Actively seek out "disconfirming evidence." Ask yourself: "What would have to be true for me to be wrong?"
The underlying mechanism is cognitive dissonance avoidance. it feels good to be right; it feels bad to be confused.. Human brains evolved heuristics for speed and survival, not accuracy in modern contexts.
Yes. Intelligence doesn't provide immunity—sometimes it makes the bias worse because smart people are better at rationalizing. Awareness and structured decision processes are more protective than raw IQ.
You only read news that agrees with you. You ignore data that disproves your theory. You become more confident, but less accurate.