Is Big Tech the new Church?

[SaidNobody]

I am curious about something.

I wonder if everyone who is contributing vociferously to this thread would answer these three questions:

1). What is confirmation bias and the belief bias effect?

2). How does confirmation bias affect one's opinion and belief?

3). How do *I* best guard myself against confirmation bias?

Yes, I will consider and answer these questions too.

1) Confirmation bias and believe bias sort of go hand in hand. You tend to have beliefs and easily believe things that support those beliefs. Confirmation bias are choices that you make automatically or without much thought based on your belief bias. Science reports show that most people make decisions 20 to 40 minutes before they even know there is a decision to make. Like perhaps they come into the room and see donuts. they instantly decide whether they're going to have one or not though they may resist for an extended period of time.

2) confirmation bias is a subconscious process. But then so our beliefs. When something comes up your mind already decides what choice it will make based on beliefs that you have. You having a discussion or writing in your journal about it is a secondary function of the confirmation bias. But the confirmation bias happens without you thinking about it and is extremely difficult to override.

The best defense of getting trapped in illusions based on this phenomenon of the human mind is to have principles that are not necessarily biased. Like believe in hearing both sides. Believe in being fair. If you believe that your side is right then there is no way that your confirmation bias could allow you to see a different point of view.

You may know someone in your life that you trust to settle an argument because you know their belief bias is in a neutral principle such as fairness or hearing both sides.

3) as I mentioned before put your belief in neutral or good principles. Believing that there is good in all people for example is perhaps a safer bias than thinking that everybody lies. I sort of do both but.....

Believing in correct principles allows people to observe the merits of a situation without making a choice or confirmation bias action until you have heard the evidence. If your belief bias requires more information before you allowed that confirmation bias to kick in then you are more likely to be just. But if your belief bias leans in One direction such as, "those are bad people," all confirmation bias will simply confirm that.

Before 2016 I had some unhealthy belief bias. I believe that people are basically good and would not allow something bad to happen within our government. I have had to nail that particular belief on the cross. A better belief this that all politicians lie but look at what they achieve to know what their intent is.

This has led to me dividing people into several groups. Of course there is confirmation bias all the time when I see them act. But deeper research usually confirms what I suspected. That could be a mine trap of sorts, but we are merely mortal and cannot know it all.

Great questions.

[Cnsl1]

But how do you know you're putting your belief in correct principles? What is correct? What is right?

I think the best way to guard against confirmation bias (and we first have to understand and agree that confirmation bias effects ALL of us at some time or another) is to really try to challenge your a priori opinion. Really test your hypothesis, or really seek information that does not conform to your belief. So, if I think Trump is a narcissistic baffoon who is posturing because he can't handle losing, I should look for evidence to the contrary. I should seek the data that Trumpers are spouting and consider it based on its own merits. I should get out of my box and climb into theirs.

I have decades of practice with this, but it's still difficult. It really requires effort and humility IMO. You have to be open enough to be willing to change your opinion.

So, in my opinion, claiming the way to guard against confirmation bias is to set your belief solid on a principle is actually the worst way. You've already closed yourself to one principle being correct.

This is not to say that having basic guiding principles is not a great way to live your life. Those are good, but don't help with confirmation bias or the belief bias effect. And you are right, these are basically the same. The difference is confirmation bias is the tendency to only seek info that confirms our bias. The belief bias effect is the tendency to ignore info that doesn't support our existing belief. So to avoid them, we simply seek info that does not conform to our belief and then consider it. You can still maintain your previous belief, but now hopefully you are less biased and have a better appreciation for the beliefs of others.

[SaidNobody]

To find out what is right and wrong one must dig deep and understand your desires. Our soul is a mixture of desire and experience. But the desire may be a mixed bag sort of like the different mixtures in a compound. One person might have more desire for adventure. Another person might have more desire for home. What is right and wrong is purely dependent upon their desires. That is why it is impossible for one person to really define what is right and wrong for another.

And trying to understand confirmation bias and belief bias we try to see where a person's desires are coming from. If I see that someone's belief and confirmation biases include fair and just judgment I am more likely to trust that person. If I see that a person's belief and confirmation bias comes from a place of greed or insecurity I would probably make the opinion that they were less trustworthy.

But let's take one of the indicators that we have and judging people which is their language. For example I get called the stupid or uneducated all of the time. For my part, if I met an actual stupid or uneducated person I would take the time to be more gentle with them. Like when my puppy pees on the floor, it is really irritating, but I know that he is learning still so I shake my head call him outside and show him where to pee. If I cussed at him every time he made a mistake then I would be the idiot.

So when people call me an idiot I see that they are trying to shore up and stabilize their own illusion. They want to feel like they're right and I am an opportunity for them to feel that way.

For example, not to pick on you, calling Trump a narcissistic buffoon implies a certain amount of insecurity in your own identity. You are pushing whatever you see in him away and labeling it bad. Calling his supporters trumpers and the things that they say has spouting also implies a certain amount of disrespect for them and their opinions. So the challenge or ideas about them really would never work. The bias is already in place and you have no neutral principles to judge them by.

Somehow what you want is already a play and undoing that is impossible. The core desires of the soul are like God reaching out through the foundations of the universe and manifesting something. I think it is a desire to look good. This is one of the most common themes I see among Trump haters. They want to look righteous, they want to look good. There is nothing wrong with that but if you don't have neutral principles you are willing to sell off anything to achieve it.

I find it easier to maintain that feeling of looking good by being honest and kind as I can. I don't always speak out against people around even if I think they're wrong. I can even sit quietly and let people hurt my feelings rather than make them look bad.

It is a intrinsic value of the soul that wants to look good. How that feeling is manifested is different, but the soul looks for that feeling. this might even inspire people to donate to charity or to go to church or different acts of kindness because they want to look good even to themselves.

And so, in my humble opinion, the media has made Trump look as evil as they can so that anyone who wants to look good will reject him. Personally I have other values above that. I learned that I can look good to myself by seeking good and not trying to look good in the eyes of others.

[Cnsl1]

I don't think you're reading my posts closely or really understanding confirmation bias, but that's ok.

Hey, Trump is still my president. I didn't vote for the guy, but I didn't vote for Hillary either, but he won, so I accepted it. I even tried to like him. Then he'd talk... Then I tried to like him again and he would start talking and I'd think, ok I'm with you, just please stop pretty soon and don't say anything stupid and then he wouldn't stop and would say something stupid. I did try to like him. I tasted the Kool aid. It didn't taste very good.

So I tried to figure out why... Why does he continually do this? I looked at his life, his background. Damn.. a few things admirable, a lot of things despicable, a few things scary. He seems motivated not by love of country, but by self aggrandizement. He doesn't seem to handle other opinions very well. Those who have worked for him say he demands loyalty and wants constant praise. He fires folks like crazy but maybe he got used to doing that on his reality show.. and let's not forget.. our president is a reality tv star. Very recently, a Trump supporter told me that the reason Donald ran for president in the first place was because Obama disrespected him at a function. Trump had been an Obama supporter (in that he'd donated money to his campaign--which is common among big wigs--they'll donate to both sides). I don't know if that tale is true but it does seem to fit Trump's MO.

So, Trump is still my president for now, but I'm happy he won't be for long. I would hope you will eventually acknowledge that Biden is your president and that you'll trust that the process was fair. I think the 60 mins interview with Chris Krebs went a long way in helping settle the debate, but I'm guessing you'll have a conspiracy theory about him as well.

[Cnsl1]

A bit of trivia... I'm pretty sure that Trump collected more votes in the history of all presidential candidates except for Biden.

More people voted for Trump on 2020 than in 2016, which tells us that despite the shit storm that this election was, more people actually voted! Maybe that's a positive take away.

[SaidNobody]

Hey Cnsl1, I'm really sorry I didn't understand your posts on the confirmation bias. It was a fun post to write however so thank you for that.

That is always the common thread for people who try to like Trump. They want to give him a chance and then he speaks and then they say no way. There is simply no doubt that image and voice tone do a lot for our perception of people.

For myself I find these particular elements of identification to be strongly misleading. Appearances are somewhat like a magic spell. The better looking someone is oftentimes the more likely you are to trust them. Or how well spoken they are will often give you a sense of trust. Obama had both of these in great portions. As presidents go he was a very handsome man and very well spoken. For me that was a reason to be extra suspicious. It was sort of like knowing that someone in the room had the power to mesmerize your mind and therefore be on enhanced guard.

I think Trump is as handsome so to speak as Obama was in many ways. Neither one exactly my style but still. Trump however, is no orator in the traditional sense. He doesn't know how to emphasize a particular word in the right way or to hold the pause to get everybody's attention. He just blurts it out. I could imagine to a refined language arts teacher he is a little bit like watching a train wreck.

But to me, he gets it. He seems to understand every conspiracy theory of the last 50 years. Some of them he seems to address and others he seems to ignore. He doesn't deny them he just seems to rank them in importance. That is something I trust him to do for me.

Appearance and tone are about the bottom of my list of things that are important in the president. To me he is the most honest president that we have ever had. People have thrown at me that he is a liar and I researched those lies. Most of them simply irrelevant or untrue.

I am followed him throughout most of my life partly because he is a social icon. Partly because I found him mildly fascinating. He has been accused of some pretty shady things, but when investigated they are not quite what they seem. He is accused of working with the mob in New York and in New Jersey. That's just another way of saying construction crews, government, and union bosses.

Trump manifests, in my mind, one of the most spiritual concepts that I have to date developed my own head. Yes, Trump is completely about self-aggrandizement. But Trump sees himself as bigger than himself. He sees himself, as part of the community, part of the country, and part of an industry. When his employees do well he does well. When his businesses are successful he is successful. When he wins the whole country wins.

In my mind this is a valid way that God works with the universe. God is the most selfish creature in all of the universe because anything he does is to improve himself. Thus when he helps one person become stronger he become stronger. If he helps someone and they become weaker then he becomes weaker. Look again that many of the things Trump has done both in the nation and out in the world. Demanding NATO step up and do their part might have seemed selfish but it made them stronger and it made him stronger.

I totally agree with you. Trump is all about himself but his self is about us all. There is nothing more important to Trump than his brand. When he dies he wants the Trump name to be something that was the best. But that is not entirely unkind or selfish. It means that he served the people better than anyone else. Christ said that the greatest among you is the servant of all. And that's what it takes to have a great brand.

As for your trivia question, yes Trump got more votes than any other president in history. But what we do not accept is that somehow Biden got 10 million more than him. You say isn't it great that more people came out to vote? I suppose that is one very far-fetched possibility. But the evidence shows that it wasn't people who voted but rather dead people and falsified ballots. In Georgia there were some odd hundreds of thousands of unaccounted for ballots. When they examined these unaccounted for ballots they realized that the watermark on the balance was not the same as the others. This is one aspect of evidence and proof that there was fraud. That's how you test for a fraudulent Bank check is the watermark.

There was fraud. And I pray to God that we can get it exposed. But this isn't just about exposing Democrats. This is going to expose Republicans too because the entire system has been for sale for some time.

[moksha]

Trump manifests, in my mind, one of the most spiritual concepts that I have to date developed my own head. Yes, Trump is completely about self-aggrandizement. But Trump sees himself as bigger than himself. He sees himself, as part of the community, part of the country, and part of an industry. When his employees do well he does well. When his businesses are successful he is successful. When he wins the whole country wins.

Mining Trump's head for overly ripe cheese could be an industry of sorts.

Hey, speaking of unusual, do you think there should be a drone strike against Biden's dog Major for injuring his foot?

[SaidNobody]

Trump manifests, in my mind, one of the most spiritual concepts that I have to date developed my own head. Yes, Trump is completely about self-aggrandizement. But Trump sees himself as bigger than himself. He sees himself, as part of the community, part of the country, and part of an industry. When his employees do well he does well. When his businesses are successful he is successful. When he wins the whole country wins.

Mining Trump's head for overly ripe cheese could be an industry of sorts.

Hey, speaking of unusual, do you think there should be a drone strike against Biden's dog Major for injuring his foot?

I definitely have mixed feelings about this one. As a rule I am a dog lover. I go out of my way to protect them. However I empathize with Joe Biden. Any German Shepherd named Major deserves a drone strike. I was bitten by such a creature a few months ago. I was getting into my car and he came running across the road. I put out my hand to greet him and damn if he didn't take such junk out of it.

However, and this is a political joke, Joe Biden has tripped up enough I'm not sure I would blame it on the dog.

[Cnsl1]

Comparing Trump to God now?

Ok... Do all or most of the Trump supporters feel this way? Kinda explains a lot.

I'm glad that's not my God, nor anything like the God I believe in. But belief, like political persuasion, is a choice, or at least we hope and believe it's a choice.

Sometimes when you look at divisions like red and blue, it does kinda make you wonder. You can predict, with pretty good accuracy, what color you'll vote based on where you live. Even scarier perhaps, is that your religion can be predicted, again with pretty good accuracy, based on where you grew up. So maybe being Mormon or being Republican is less about free will than geography.

God bless those who challenge the dominant geographic mindset, who question the status quo and think outside the geographical box.

[SaidNobody]

Comparing Trump to God now?

Ok... Do all or most of the Trump supporters feel this way? Kinda explains a lot.

We are all God.

God is consciousness in process.

What applies to God applies to us all. The spirits that we practice often exemplify what I am talking about. For example, the spirit of father is not a natural thing. Natural fathers are usually quite a danger to both the mother and the child. This is why mother bears often chase away the male or why the lionesses guard the Cubs.

The spirit of father is an idea that the man takes on to expand himself to be more than what his nature is. His spirit and identity become better than merely his mortal Tabernacle. There are good Fathers and there are bad ones.

This is sort of what Trump is. He is not a dictator in the sense of other political dictators. He might fire people who do not help him but he does not have them killed or threatened or their families jailed. If they can't help him he doesn't need them. But people feel totally free to betray him and to defy him.

But even you, and I am quite sure, have manifested this concept of expanded identity. I'm sure there are things in your life that you consider a part of you and that you would defend and protect with your own life. This isn't just a job for Trump. He is fighting this as if it is his own life and we are deeply grateful that he is.