PHI 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: In-Group Favoritism, Confirmation Bias, Cognitive Distortion

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHI 1101
• Professor: Sascha Maicher

Document Summary

Cognitive biases: they skew our apprehension of reality and interfere with our ability to think clearly, process information accurately, and reason objectively. Biases are psychological traits that tend to lead us astray when it comes to judging claims. Therefore some dogs are german shepherds *ask the prof about it* Confirmation bias (ego and superego): -the most powerful bias. We tend to be far less critical even if it turns out that they were saying something that is not so typical of a liberal party member to say. Thinking that we agree with something will just stork our perception, not only our ability to critically analyze. Not everything you think or do is conscious we need to have an attitude of analyzing and being aware of the biases the more you can bring into consciousness, the idea that you could be misdirected by them. Bandwagon effect: - refers to an unconscious tendency to align one"s thinking with that of other people.