tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11679714.post4382390146079208840..comments2024-03-28T21:53:50.039-04:00Comments on Half an Hour: The Paradox of DemocracyStephen Downeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06140591903467372209noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11679714.post-38515896010423542462012-11-06T15:47:29.450-05:002012-11-06T15:47:29.450-05:00I've heard the confirmation bias argument a lo...I've heard the confirmation bias argument a lot, but I don't agree that people hear only the message they want to hear, but rather, they only hear the same message that they hear. That's not as much of a tautology as it sounds. It means, for example, that a person watching Fox News hears no dissenting views from the Fox message. Similarly, an MSNBC viewer will hear only the MSNBC message. And so on for CNN, ABC and the rest (we have it to in Canada, with a CTV view of the world, a CBC view, and so on). <br /><br />The problem, in other words, is not that the *viewers* are selecting only the message that they want to hear, but rather, the information channels they access, whatever they happen to be, offer a monoculture. Interestingly, the message about confirmation bias is a part of that message - it suggests to viewers that if they were to make their own selections they would only 'hear what they want to hear', so they should stay right where they are and, um, hear the same message over and over.<br /><br />People who actually do manage their own media (like, say, me) actually obtain their information from a wide spectrum of media (and sources outside media). Stephen Downeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06140591903467372209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11679714.post-11718449262999527712012-11-06T13:50:06.633-05:002012-11-06T13:50:06.633-05:00I think you're right here, but incomplete: &qu...I think you're right here, but incomplete: "the information they receive is controlled and manipulated..."<br /><br />I think people have access to whatever information THEY WANT TO HEAR as well. Just as we have people 2nd guessing their doctors by googling their symptoms, we have people using their confirmation bias to select their news sources - with approximately similar results.<br /><br />Marge: "Homer, you only hear what you want to hear!"<br />Homer: "Thanks, I'd love a sandwich."<br /><br />The problem is different because this isn't an external source of manipulation, but something each of us does to ourselves. How do you get everyone to change themselves - when they're already subject to confirmation bias?<br /><br />Well, everyone except me of course.Brad Dillmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13247350574583774744noreply@blogger.com