FIRST Robotics Competition Blog

I learned something interesting this week.

Wikipedia has an entry on ‘common misconceptions’ which I found interesting. Before I provide the link, I should give you a warning that one of the misconceptions, out of the many listed, is about the etymology of a commonly heard, but vulgar, word. If you think seeing this word will bother you, please don’t click. If you are OK with seeing this word, here’s the link.

I had some of these misconceptions.* I think my reaction on learning corrective information on these topics would be typical of most other people; “Oh, interesting.” I’m happy to have learned something that corrected misinformation I had in my head. But these particular facts are not a big part of my worldview. My identity does not hinge on the shelf life of Twinkies.

If on the other hand, someone was to present me with information that contradicted a belief I held that was a core element of my worldview, that was fundamental to how I saw myself and to the lens through which I viewed the world, I’d have a different reaction. I’d likely argue against or dismiss those facts in an effort to stay psychologically whole.

Not only would I argue against the new information but there is strong evidence I, and just about everyone else in the same situation, would double down on the original beliefs. Presented with contradictory information, beliefs often strengthen. This is called the “Backfire Effect.” It’s real, and it has significant implications in our increasingly contentious world. We have difficult decisions to make, as individual nations and as a whole, with long-term consequences, and need to develop consensus around ‘true facts’ if we want to have a hope of moving forward. The Backfire Effect shows us that simply lobbing more facts at someone with a different position on a key topic is not only often a waste of time and energy, but can also actually be counter-productive.

I learned about the Backfire Effect on the You Are Not So Smart podcast. It was a three-parter, episodes 93, 94, and 95. If you are interested in this topic at all, I strongly recommend them. Not only do they go into detail about the Backfire Effect, but they also suggest ways you can avoid it when making an effort to change opinions. Fair warning; each episode is about one hour long. If you are not sure you want to make that kind of commitment, I get it. You can always just listen to the first 15 minutes of the first episode, and if you don’t think the rest will be worth your time, stop listening. You have the power!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Frank

*I recognize that Wikipedia entries are not always accurate. My working assumption, in this case, is that most, but maybe not all, of these misconceptions truly are misconceptions.