The Science Behind Why Your Facebook Friends Ignore Facts – Zero Infinity

You may find yourself wondering: Why is the world so divided on religion and politics? Why do people support Donald Trump? Or Hillary Clinton? Why can’t I convince my friend to change his mind? In this article, I share how our brains deal with information overload - and the associated cognitive biases that prevent us from correctly understanding the facts.

In short what is discussed:

  1. The Availability Heuristic: We Believe What’s Top of Mind.
  2. Attentional Bias: We Believe What We Pay Attention To.
  3. The Illusory Truth Effect: We Believe What’s Repeated.
  4. The Mere Exposure Effect: We Believe What’s Familiar.

More on the topic of Confirmation Bias just one of our many Cognitive Biases…

Confirmation Bias

The Misconception: Your opinions are the result of years of rational, objective analysis. The Truth: Your opinions are the result of years of paying attention to information which confirmed what you believed while ignoring information which challenged your preconceived notions. Have you ever had a conversation in which some old movie was mentioned, something like…

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