https://slatestarcodex.com/2020/02/12/confirmation-bias-as-misfire-of-normal-bayesian-reasoning/
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From the subreddit:\xa0Humans Are Hardwired To Dismiss Facts That Don\u2019t Fit Their Worldview. Once you get through the preliminary Trump supporter and anti-vaxxer denunciations, it turns out to be an attempt at an evo psych explanation of confirmation bias:
Our ancestors evolved in small groups, where cooperation and persuasion had at least as much to do with reproductive success as holding accurate factual beliefs about the world. Assimilation into one\u2019s tribe required assimilation into the group\u2019s ideological belief system. An instinctive bias in favor of one\u2019s in-group\u201d and its worldview is deeply ingrained in human psychology.
I think the article as a whole makes good points, but I\u2019m increasingly uncertain that confirmation bias can be separated from normal reasoning.
Suppose that one of my friends says she saw a coyote walk by her house in Berkeley. I know there are coyotes in the hills outside Berkeley, so I am not too surprised; I believe her.