Author’s Note: I gleaned this information from a smattering of college textbooks, online courses, and psychology websites over many years. Since they all say the same things, I’m not really sure who to credit, but I’m fairly certain this all falls under common knowledge. I did not consciously quote anyone, but neither did I invent any of the terms below.
Intro
Paul Tripp and others within the Christian counseling movement have said repeatedly that humans are interpreters. In other words, we receive things not as they are, but as we perceive them to be. We translate or interpret the raw data of reality into something that conforms with our understanding.
While this has been a no-brainer for the educated world at large, it seems to have been quite a revelation to the Christian community. Yet this is important—very important. So let's delve a little deeper into the science of this interpretive process, and why it matters for a Christian’s life just like it does for everyone else.
Perceptual Set
We do not receive the unabridged data of life, but rather data filtered through our own biases, environment, and beliefs. A perceptual set is the physiological term for the factors that determine how an individual person perceives his or her environment. It is the set of filters we have between the raw data our senses take in and the end result of what we actually perceive. Our personal reality is the amalgamation of those perceptions. And everyone has a different perceptual set, because different people have different thoughts and tendencies and experiences that shape their perceptual sets.
Within the perceptual set are things like context, which tells us that the surrounding circumstances or background affect the way we perceive things; often so dramatically that we perceive them radically differently in different contexts. Culture and other social factors come into play. We perceive things largely the way we are expected to, or have been taught to. Personal factors such as emotions and motivations also color our perceptions.
Grouping
Grouping is a key part of our perceptual set. Our minds organize incoming data by grouping it. This makes everything easier to process. The mind actually follows some pretty predictable "rules of grouping" here. Proximity, Continuity, and Closure among others.
- Proximity: We group nearby figures together. This is why high school men and women understand instinctively that if they hang out with the "cool kids" or the band team or the chess club, they themselves will take on that association. There is a chance they will be pigeonholed with that group whether they fit within the group or not.
- Continuity: We perceive things in patterns. So much so that we sometimes see patterns where they do not exist, often ignoring breaks in the pattern.
- Closure: We like to perceive whole objects. Our minds fill in gaps to form objects and ideas that are complete.
These and many, many other factors can be seen working quickly and efficiently to help us see and understand the physicality of the world around us. A perceptual set is absolutely crucial to living daily life without going crazy. However, as optical illusions have shown us, these same filters can be tricked to make us perceive falsehoods.
Our senses pull in the raw data of the world, break it up into smaller pieces, and reassemble it in the way that makes the most sense to the individual. In this way, we all have our own version of the world in which we all live.
Cognitive Bias
Of course this all seems vaguely interesting yet unimportant when applied to how we assemble sensory data, such as sounds or visual images. However, our minds work in similar ways when dealing with ideas, views, and beliefs. Our cognitive process (the way we think), simplifies, sorts, contextualizes, and groups ideas just like we do with sensory data. However, we are going to look at why we are not actually that good at telling truth from falsehood.
Cognitive bias, while it is generally viewed as a bad thing, does for our thinking some of the same things a Perceptual Set can do for our sensory intake. It helps us reach conclusions and think through issues quickly and efficiently. Unfortunately, it also causes us to be wrong quite frequently. And the term cognitive bias reminds us of the potentially errant nature of our thinking.
Cognitive bias is the often faulty system by which we simplify, organize, and process incoming ideas through our social, cultural, and personal understanding. A large part of this is taking mental shortcuts called heuristics so we, again, do not go crazy over-processing everything.
Whenever something unproven just "makes sense" to us, it has fallen into line with our cognitive bias. If it does not "make sense," it does not fit with our cognitive bias. "Making sense" does not make anything true or false, it simply makes it agreeable or disagreeable to us.
Let's take a peek at a few of the most common biases.
Hindsight Bias
This is our tendency to think that no matter what happens we "knew it all along." Basically, things that fit with our cognitive bias make so much "sense" to us that we perceive ourselves as having known it in advance. The times things line up with our bias is interpreted as times we "called it" or were "right all along."
False Intuition
We tend to profoundly remember the times our "intuition" was correct about an event and we got to say (at least in our head) "I told you so." However, when our future seeing skills fail us, we tend to not think of it as significant, and forget such uninteresting events quickly. This causes us to ascribe some sort of time-bending foresight or Sherlock-like observatory magic to ourselves.
We get the impression that we are right a lot more than we probably are. Armed with this overconfidence, we are all set to believe things that are totally untrue because we thought of them or perceived them as true.
Negativity Bias
Remember the Continuity rule of grouping? We make patterns out of everything—that's what we do. However, we look for, and remember, negative groupings much more energetically than positive groupings. If something is given a negative association in our minds, it sticks.
This has a lot to do with our expectations. We generally expect things to work—they "should" work. If your phone or TV malfunctions once, that stands out as being more significant than the two hundred time before, when it worked just fine. We think that there must be a reason for the malfunction; but we don't search for reasons for the last two hundred times when it worked. Because it's supposed to work. In other words, we don't ask, "what went right?" only "what went wrong?"
Negativity bias means that we tend to devote much thought to blaming things or people, but we don't devote much to giving positive credit. In our imperfect minds good things "just happen," but bad things have reasons. The disciples asked Jesus why a man was born blind. They didn't ask him why they could see.
Confirmation Bias
This is the tendency to think that our beliefs must be right. The data or experiences that seem in some way to confirm our preexisting ideas, we grab onto with eager acceptance and file away. When things come along that discredit or question our ideas, we discard them.
Again, we accept things that "make sense" almost unthinkingly, because we thought of them or they seem to fit with something else we already believe. In other words, we just assume we are right.
Here's a weird thing: psychologists have found that attempting to convince someone that an idea he or she holds is wrong increases that person's devotion to that idea. We defend our ideas, whether logically or illogically.
Our ideas have inertia. They are not easily shaken by truth or by falsehood.
Omission Bias
We tend to view ourselves as more responsible for the results of our actions than we are for the results of our inaction. This means that we tend to act less—even when the action would have been better than inaction. When in doubt, the default human choice is to not act.
The result is that we hesitate to do even good things if they will be questioned, or accused, or have risks. The slightest possibility of a negative result of action outweighs almost certain negative results of inaction.
Application
1. Getting Over Ourselves
I called the process of Cognitive Bias—and really our thinking in general—a "largely faulty system." That may have made a few people upset because we are "fearfully and wonderfully made." Neither I nor the scientists who came up with these terms would deny the wonder of the human brain. God made it and he made it really well. I'm sure that when Jesus had a human brain he used it splendidly; but most of us really don't.
As believers we must understand that while God made us, that doesn't mean we are perfect. He made us to be dependent. Our bodies are faulty and temporary by design. Our thoughts and ways fall short of God's.
Therefore, our response to cognitive bias should be to embrace our humanity and limitations; not expecting ourselves or our heroes to be right about everything. We are only human, and we must not boast beyond those bounds. We must push forward recognizing our weaknesses, striving to apply wisdom and vigilance in managing them, and relying on God for our truth.
2. Back to the Source
When building our beliefs, our world view, and our theology, understand that what feels right to us (what "makes sense") is not a position of stability or authority. We need to be grounded in something less subjective than our hunches.
This is why we must be grounded in a constant and authoritative source, the revelations God himself has given us. His written word, and his created world. I mention them both because they are both important, but for different reasons.
Our science must be rooted not in our hypothesis, but in provable and repeatable reality. The scientific method recognizes the authority of the universe God created. Principles of research also recognize our bias and vast ability to misinterpret or falsify data. These principles help scientists cut out bias and deal as directly as possible with facts.
To a scientist, it doesn't matter what seems right; it's what the research says that bears weight and reality.
Similarly, our theology must be firmly grounded in the Scriptures—which God caused to be written for the very purpose of guiding and grounding our understanding and faith. Thoughts, traditions, and endless discussions yield no authority on the subject. We must go to the Bible for our beliefs. Yet as with science and creation, bias stands between us and the reality contained in God's written revelation.
Some people think the Bible is super simple; others claim it can mean whatever you want it to mean. This is where biblical hermeneutics comes in. Hermeneutics, or the study of literary interpretation, uses principles of communication to eliminate as much bias as possible and get at the most plausible and consistent meaning of a text.
It doesn't matter what seems right to you, it's what the Scriptures say that bears weight and reality.
3. Interacting with People
Be Open:
Understand that when introduced to someone else's idea, how much you like or dislike it has no bearing on its validity or correctness. Understand also that because of our bias, we have a propensity to be wrong about things. This is because we fail to purge incorrect assumptions or accept new ideas gracefully.
Other people's thoughts and opinions become more valuable to the one who understands that he or she is wrong about some things because of the way bias affects interpretation of reality.
Be Patient:
Other people work just like you do. They may need time to adjust. They may be resistant or hostile to truth; or hold dearly to old ideas. Pushing harder usually only increases resistance. As Jesus said, treat others as you would want to be treated. Do not deviate from the truth; but be patient and loving to those who take a while to adjust.
Under Grace,
John Fritz
John Fritz is the Volunteer Coordinator for Thoughtful Life Ministries and the primary author of the Thoughtful Life Journal, which is published weekly from March through September. The purpose of this blog is to challenge and encourage those who have a desire to cultivate a more meaningful walk with Christ. Visit our Homepage to learn more about the ministry and our annual two-week summer Discipleship Program for teens and young adults.