PoshNinja said:
Also on a side note; When it comes to computers, people tend to see what they want to see and not what is really there.
That is true generally, and not restricted to computers. This is a natural human tendency called the "confirmation bias". Someone forms an idea, and filters the facts against the idea, rather than revising the idea based on the facts.
Example: "Americans spend a lot of time at the Beach"
Fact: A large percentage of people that I ask spend a lot of time at the beach.
Selection Bias: I live in California near the coast, and asked people in my local community. My sample is biased due to the way I conducted the survey, and the results are not generally applicable to "Americans" as a whole.
Confirmation Bias: I accept the results of my biased survey because they coincide with my hypothesis. I fail to dig deeper because I have a result that I like.
Examples of this kind of thing abound. Confirmation bias is one of the basic fallacies behind a lot of societal problems like racism, sexism, ageism, etc. A prejudicial opinion is formed, and our built-in filter allows us to see instances that confirm our opinion, but gloss over the instances that contradict it.
Tyler Maret (guest) 26 Nov 2009 01:23
