I am right, everyone tells me I am
Do you ever have the experience of looking something up on the internet, with the sole purpose to prove you are right? Or deliberately only ask the opinions of friends you think will agree with you?
If you are like most people, you only look for evidence that backs up your pre-existing view. And in a world with so much information, and much of it false, the chances are that there will always be someone out there who will support your beliefs.
Special interest groups can always find support in internet forums, acting as an echo chamber of people yelling “agree with me!” We tend to insulate ourselves in small communities that don’t challenge each other in our beliefs. Who after all, wants to be around people that you don’t agree with?
Confirmation bias
This phenomenon is called confirmation bias, and is a common area of study in psychology. Simply put, people will ignore things that don’t agree with their pre-conceived ideas, and will interpret ambiguous information as supportive to their beliefs.
Conspiracy theorists only search for confirmation of their beliefs, and ignore mountains of evidence to the contrary. Anti-vaccinators support each other, despite how dangerous and scientifically flawed their beliefs are. As a Christian it can be easy to do this too. The difference is, what we believe in is true – and no evidence will prove otherwise.
Ignorance and wisdom
You are unlikely to be challenged about being a Christian at church, and it is in our mutual interest to reinforce those beliefs. But an attitude of self-confirmation can be dangerous. Incorrect theology can spread and stay alive. Leaders remain unchallenged. And people can lose the ability to objectively evaluate their lives and what is happening.
When you ignore all contrary information to your beliefs, you cannot help but be ignorant and unwise. Jesus did not isolate himself to his followers, he exposed himself to everyone contrarian he came across. He debated with Pharisees and teachers of the law, and exposed himself to every argument under the sun. Wisdom comes from understanding the other, including the positions of atheists and other religions.
Trivialising the work of God
Our confirmation bias can also affect the way we talk. I often come across Christians discuss relatively trivial events as “miracles”, “awesome”, or the “will of God”. To an outsider these events may appear purely as “luck” or even normal events. Using these words to describe trivial events trivialises what God does, and is capable of. Such an attitude can also impede evangelism.
Miracles are the reason we have faith. Through the resurrection of Christ we have evidence and reason to be Christian. For someone who is not Christian, true miracles must be significant and reveal something special about God.
Please, challenge me
Christians must have excellent fellowship, but we must also challenge each other, as described in Proverbs. No matter how difficult it may be, we should listen to arguments against Christianity, so we can effectively engage with others.
Challenging each other is integral to growing in faith, and most importantly wisdom. It is through wisdom we can help challenge each other’s confirmation bias. We can present overwhelming evidence that God is real, and that he loves us all.
We have nothing to fear from talking and listening to others, because Christ is real, and no evidence can possibly contradict that.
Nathanael Yates is a Neuroscience Researcher from Perth, Western Australia. He is constantly inspired by his astonishingly wise and beautiful wife and his adorable daughter.
Nathanael Yates' previous articles may be viewed at:
www.pressserviceinternational.org/nathanael-yates.html
Nathanael Yates is a Neuroscience Researcher from Perth, Western Australia. He is constantly inspired by his astonishingly wise and beautiful wife and his adorable daughter.Nathanael Yates' previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/nathanael-yates.html