Why Being Smart Doesn't Protect You From Bias

You read a headline that agrees with you and share it in a second. You read one that disagrees, and suddenly you're a detective hunting for the flaw. Being smart doesn't switch off confirmation bias, and it can make you better at defending what you already believe. We unpack the psychology of intelligence through a study where the same numbers got different answers, an experiment on myside bias and motivated reasoning, and the bias blind spot that hides our own cognitive biases. Then three simple critical thinking habits, including considering the opposite and intellectual humility. What's one thing you've changed your mind about, and what changed it? 0:00 Why smart people find the flaw so fast 0:33 Same numbers, different answers: motivated reasoning 1:29 The German car: myside bias and confirmation bias 2:19 The bias blind spot 3:11 How to stay open-minded 4:05 Point your mind at your own beliefs Sources: Kahan, D. M., Peters, E., Dawson, E. C., & Slovic, P. (2017). Motivated numeracy and enlightened self-government. Behavioural Public Policy, 1(1), 54–86. Stanovich, K. E., & West, R. F. (2008). On the relative independence of thinking biases and cognitive ability. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94(4), 672–695. Stanovich, K. E., West, R. F., & Toplak, M. E. (2013). Myside bias, rational thinking, and intelligence. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22(4), 259–264. Pronin, E., Lin, D. Y., & Ross, L. (2002). The bias blind spot: Perceptions of bias in self versus others. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(3), 369–381. West, R. F., Meserve, R. J., & Stanovich, K. E. (2012). Cognitive sophistication does not attenuate the bias blind spot. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103(3), 506–519. Lord, C. G., Ross, L., & Lepper, M. R. (1979). Biased assimilation and attitude polarization: The effects of prior theories on subsequently considered evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37(11), 2098–2109. Lord, C. G., Lepper, M. R., & Preston, E. (1984). Considering the opposite: A corrective strategy for social judgment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47(6), 1231–1243. Leary, M. R., Diebels, K. J., Davisson, E. K., Jongman-Sereno, K. P., Isherwood, J. C., Raimi, K. T., Deffler, S. A., & Hoyle, R. H. (2017). Cognitive and interpersonal features of intellectual humility. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 43(6), 793–813. This video is for general education, not professional advice. #psychology #criticalthinking #cognitivebias