How a Whiny Toy Poodle Confronted My Bias

5 Steps to Fight Confirmation Bias (and Wild Turkeys)

By Angie Reedy

I’m getting closer to cresting the hill, the dreaded one that makes a person “over the hill.” It’s the week of my 49th birthday and while I might occasionally forget how old I am, I’m not one to deny reality. There are a lot of candles on my cake this year. So, it seems appropriate to admit that I’ve reached that age where I notice birds.

Not just when a flashy red Cardinal perches near our porch, but the Goldfinches I never knew lived in my backyard and that crazy-sounding Catbird that rustles through our hedge. Part of this new birding obsession is related to a bird tracking app our family (apparently all of us are past “that age”) spent way too much time talking about over the Fourth of July.

Once I press record, Merlin, the birding app “listens” and displays which bird it hears. It’s no surprise to see an American Crow, American Robin, and Northern Cardinal appear on my screen, but I got a little excited when a Wild Turkey popped up. Wow! A Wild Turkey nearby in my backyard!

I scanned the area to spot the turkey and didn’t see confirmation. But the screen lit up again certain that a Wild Turkey was calling. My backyard is fairly open and not that large. Surely, I would be able to spot the turkey if it was close. I imagined how exciting it would be to tell my husband about the turkey in our yard. I knew he would be skeptical, but hey, he’s always saying how smart technology is. I replayed the recording and listened for the “Wild Turkey” and then I noticed it.

Just when Merlin insisted it was hearing a turkey, I heard poor Lucky, whining. The Wild Turkey turned out to just be a little toy poodle tired of sitting out in the heat. We went back inside.

Adding a Wild Turkey to my Life List of birds would have been a highlight of my birding week, and my app told me that’s what I’d heard, but as a bird enthusiast with good conscience, I could not claim it. After all, I’m not one to be fooled.

Maybe you’ve also been fooled by the sound of a bird, or maybe you haven’t reached that age yet when you embrace the call to track birds. But likely, there’s something you’ve read and believed but after thinking more questioned whether it was true. Maybe you really wanted to believe what you read even though it was unlikely to be true.

Confirmation bias is when we interpret something in a way that confirms our prior beliefs. This common human tendency applies to virtually every aspect of our lives. In our algorithm-age of receiving information, confirmation bias is nearly impossible to recognize if we aren’t maintaining a guard against it.

Often the consequences of ignoring our bias are small. My strong desire to turn Lucky into a Wild Turkey wouldn’t have serious long-term effects for anyone. But consider a doctor who sees a patient complaining of fatigue, headache, and a mild fever. Because of the recent flu outbreak in the area, she misses the information that the patient has just returned from a trip to an area where malaria is wide-spread. If the doctor makes an incorrect diagnosis from confirmation bias, the consequences could be much more severe.

As writers, we don’t run the risk of making an incorrect diagnosis, but it’s still our job to ask questions. We think as we write, and we write to share information. If the information coming into our minds is slanted, guess what will come onto the page? This isn’t simply about the political leaning of whichever news source you use, but applies to the way we read the Bible, how we interpret conversations, and even the way we remember the events of our days.

We naturally have opinions, and these will influence how we write. Our background and opinions contribute to our voice, they influence our perspective, our word choice, and the thoughts we generate to share with the world. There’s a difference between having a voice and allowing ourselves to write fettered by confirmation bias.

Confronting our biases, whether in ourselves or in our communities is uncomfortable. No one wants to be the dissenting viewpoint and many of us have a desire to not stir up the pot. However, if we allow certain lines of thinking to continue, they often evolve and perpetuate misinformation. Not only do we want to avoid spreading things that are not true, but especially as Christians, we have a calling to be honest and search our understanding so that it aligns with the truth.

As careful writers let’s prepare our minds, before even sitting down at the keyboard. Here are five things we can do to fight off writing with a confirmation bias.

1. Self-examination – Reflect on the topic you’re going to write about. This applies whether you are writing a devotional or on an academic topic. What perspective do we have? Are there pieces of our key message that make assumptions? Where did these assumptions come from and do they need to be examined?

2. Accountability – Having someone who will critically assess our writing and question our facts and sources will prompt us to be more careful in how we present information and take extra caution so that our words are not misunderstood.

3. Humility – Questioning a long-held belief or perspective requires an attitude that is willing to learn and change. If we persist in believing our thoughts are right, always have been, and always will be, we are never open to learning, and will run into roadblocks as we write.

4. Seek Diverse Perspectives – In an age when the algorithms send us curated information based on what we’ve looked at before, it’s necessary to be intentional to seek out the perspective that is opposite to ours. When we understand the other side of the issue to the point that a supporter of that view would affirm our explanation, we’re understanding it correctly. It’s from the point of understanding that we can most accurately determine facts from spin.

5. Prioritize Truth – Sensationalism grabs attention. Sometimes this means more attention on social media or more book sales or more conversations. But all attention isn’t necessarily good attention. Truth is a constant value in God’s economy. Christ-followers seek out the truth and ways to apply it in culture.

I admit being tempted to claim the “Wild Turkey” to my birding Life List, but when I stepped back from the immediate desire and recognized my bias towards wanting to believe Merlin, my conscience stepped forward.

In Ephesians 4:15, we’re reminded that “speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” Sometimes the truth isn’t the first and obvious choice, but integrity and commitment to truth call us to pause and analyze before leaping whole-heartedly into the path of least resistance.

Thanks for reading today’s guest post. You can find more of Angie’s work at

https://www.angiereedy.com/

You can also work with Angie in our writing program. Contact us for details!

Jeff

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