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People Who Think Their Beliefs Are Better Than Others' Probably Know the Least
Curiosity ^ | June 29, 2018 | Reuben Westmaas

Posted on 07/03/2018 6:55:35 AM PDT by Heartlander

People Who Think Their Beliefs Are Better Than Others’ Probably Know the Least

There are some things that you can be absolutely sure of. The Earth is round, it goes around the sun, everybody is going to die someday, and tax day is going to come around every single year. But if you feel that you've got the one correct answer to a question that's a little more controversial, then you might want to double-check that. It turns out, the more certain you are about something, the less informed you're likely to be about it.

Knowledge Versus Belief

According to a new study by Michael Hall and Kaitlin Raimi from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, people with a high degree of what they call "belief superiority" had the largest gap between how informed they believed they were and how informed they actually were about the subjects they were so opinionated about. First, let's clear up what, exactly, belief superiority is. It's not just how confident you are in your belief; it's how much you believe that belief is better than those of other people. In other words, confidence is an absolute value, but belief-superiority is a relative value based on what you think of others' opinions.

It's yet another version of the Dunning-Kruger effect, where the most qualified people feel the least confident about their abilities and the least qualified are the most certain that they've got the skills to pay the bills.

For this study, the researchers gathered their participants through Amazon's Mechanical Turk, which allowed them access to people of a wide variety of demographics and viewpoints. When they asked those people about some politically contentious topics, they were able to find which of them had the greatest sense of belief superiority. Then, they compared how those participants ranked their own knowledge about those subjects and how much they actually knew. Then came the fun part.

Broadening Horizons ... Or Not

After they compared people's presumed knowledge against their actual knowledge, the researchers then presented them with a spread of headlines from various sources. They included a mix of headlines that were belief congruent and belief incongruent — that is, some headlines that participants would agree with and some that they'd disagree with. The participants were then asked how likely they would be to read each article to the end. You might not be too surprised to find out that the people with the strongest sense of belief superiority were also the least likely to read articles that didn't jibe with their previously held beliefs.

In other words, not only were they less informed about the things they felt the most strongly about, but they were also less likely to seek out information that might expand their knowledge about those things. It's not all bad news, though. For one thing, the participants with the bias against headlines they didn't like were absolutely aware of that tendency in themselves. And secondly, the researchers found that when they tried methods to lower their sense of belief superiority, those same participants were more likely to try reading horizon-expanding think pieces. So maybe the answer is that the next time you're feeling especially fired up about something, it's a good moment to step back and consider a different point of view.


TOPICS: Education; Reference; Science; Society
KEYWORDS: reubenwestmaas; thomasacquinas; thomasaquinas
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LIBERALS:

1 posted on 07/03/2018 6:55:35 AM PDT by Heartlander
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To: Heartlander

EVERYONE thinks their beliefs are best or they would believe something else...

No one says, ‘here’s my opinion and I don’t believe what I’m saying’


2 posted on 07/03/2018 6:57:03 AM PDT by GOPJ ( BEST REASON TO STOP immigration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-s1_nfs7f4)
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To: Heartlander
the next time you're feeling especially fired up about something, it's a good moment to step back and consider a different point of view

Has the MSM considered this?

3 posted on 07/03/2018 6:58:26 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (If you beleive the dog, then take his advice.)
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To: ClearCase_guy
Has the MSM considered this?

Yes ... when presented with something even more leftist than their current position, they immediately adopt it,

4 posted on 07/03/2018 7:00:14 AM PDT by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: Heartlander
It turns out, the more certain you are about something, the less informed you're likely to be about it.

Therefore, applying that principle to this article, I'm blowing it off.

5 posted on 07/03/2018 7:00:56 AM PDT by Migraine
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To: Heartlander

Holy cow! This speaks to exactly what a music ministry pastor and I were discussing at his large church in Louisville.

I was lamenting that, after moving from Seattle to rural KY, I was finding a lot of dogmatism. That is, people believed many things about Christianity as absolutely the final word, but when you tried to discuss it with them they would just clam up and say “I believe what the bible sez.” But what they actually believed was a certain interpretation, and they could not support it.

Meanwhile, this music minister said that his church had a lot of members that were professors at a local bible college. He said what he has noticed was that, for a lot of Christian messages beyond the core message, the more someone knows about what the bible teaches, the less sure they are of their opinion on the specific issues.

I’ve found that happening with me. The more I know, the more I know I don’t know, and the less sure I am about things like the afterlife, the “before the world existed” stuff, etc.


6 posted on 07/03/2018 7:01:02 AM PDT by robroys woman (So you're not confused, I'm using my wife's account.)
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To: robroys woman

Your salvation is certain in Christ. The Spirit of God will dwell within you and will continue to be with you through all of eternity.


7 posted on 07/03/2018 7:07:12 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: Heartlander

I believe Trump is turning the country around for the better.

I believe Socialism is a crock.

I believe the left are loons.

I believe Hollyweird is full of pervs.

I believe Kim is a big fat liar.

I believe the UN is a farce.

I believe islam and Sharia Law is evil.

I believe most of Congress are there to line their pockets and don’t give a flying fig about the US.


8 posted on 07/03/2018 7:07:28 AM PDT by bgill (CDC site, "We don't know how people are infected with Ebola.")
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To: GOPJ

Great point and true!!!


9 posted on 07/03/2018 7:07:51 AM PDT by GOP Poet
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To: Heartlander

The irony of the authors thesis is completely lost on him.


10 posted on 07/03/2018 7:10:10 AM PDT by rjsimmon (The Tree of Liberty Thirsts)
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To: Heartlander
There was once a study using Functional Brain Mapping

One took a cohort of people with a well defined, polarized, and defended belief system,
good example Abortion is Good vs Abortion is Evil

Put these people in the machine

Present them with Congruent data to their belief system
The Endorphin pathways lit up - Natural Narcotic

Present them with In-congruent data to their belief system
There was wide suppression of the ability to learn

Hearing stuff you agree with makes you feel good
Hearing stuff you don't agree with, turn off mind

I've watched myself do this now many times
It has been... Enlightening

It turns out that we subconsciously manipulate ourselves
To "Prune" data inputs, and it requires engaging the Prefrontal Cortex
or the "Command Pathways" to overcome it

11 posted on 07/03/2018 7:10:36 AM PDT by HangnJudge
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To: Heartlander

If I thought there were other systems of belief that we’re better than mine, I would believe them. The writer of the article cannot get away with making a dogmatic statement with surety and then saying that those that do so know less. This is not logical. Those that do not believe in absolute truth have no standing from which to project any viewpoint.


12 posted on 07/03/2018 7:11:55 AM PDT by refreshed (But we preach Christ crucified... 1 Corinthians 1:23)
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To: Heartlander

http://www.punditpress.com/2011/08/mr-obama-and-dunning-kruger-effect.html


13 posted on 07/03/2018 7:13:30 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: GOPJ

Someone better inform Jesus.


14 posted on 07/03/2018 7:15:11 AM PDT by freepertoo
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To: ClearCase_guy

the next time you’re feeling especially fired up about something, it’s a good moment to step back and consider a different point of view


Doing this is exactly what took me out of ECT and into CI. And I’m currently doing the same process regarding Universalism.

Also, when I was in debate class I found that the best way to prepare was to actually argue the other side. In fact, the best grade I got on a debate was arguing AGAINST my personal opinion. And here’s the weird part: I changed my opinion on the subject (Should we build the SST. I went from yes to no.)


15 posted on 07/03/2018 7:16:02 AM PDT by robroys woman (So you're not confused, I'm using my wife's account.)
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To: BenLurkin

Yes. I’m talking about all these peripheral things regarding the fate of the lost, baptism, works vs faith, drinking, etc.


16 posted on 07/03/2018 7:17:10 AM PDT by robroys woman (So you're not confused, I'm using my wife's account.)
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To: Heartlander

It looks to me like the turkeys that whipped up this “study” were unwitting members of the Dunning Kruger club.

To quote the OP, “Then, they compared how those participants ranked their own knowledge about those subjects and how much they actually knew…After they compared people’s presumed knowledge against their actual knowledge…”

Presumably it was the authors of this “study” that made the decisions about “actual knowledge,” and how much the subjects “actually knew.” Sitting up there on leftard Olympus calling their own proglodyte nonsense “knowledge” and the truth “faulty conservative belief,” I would bet.

The only study to trust is the one that found 99% of studies to be bull hockey.


17 posted on 07/03/2018 7:17:43 AM PDT by dsc (Our system of government cannot survive one-party control of communications.)
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To: refreshed

I think the author is speaking in generalities. There are some things I believe pretty strongly because I’ve researched them exhaustively.

I believe the earth is round, though I’ve never seen it from a distance. I believe it pretty strongly.


18 posted on 07/03/2018 7:19:42 AM PDT by robroys woman (So you're not confused, I'm using my wife's account.)
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To: robroys woman

...There are some things I believe pretty strongly because I’ve researched them exhaustively.

F=M*A
Conservation of Energy
Conservation of Momentum

As close to “Settled Science” as you can get
And yet, still open to correction if
experimentation finds exceptions

M=M0*Sqrt(1/(1-V^2/C^2))


19 posted on 07/03/2018 7:25:27 AM PDT by HangnJudge
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To: rjsimmon
The irony of the authors thesis is completely lost on him.

The author's smug self-satisfaction just leaps off of the page.

Perhaps he should read his own article...

20 posted on 07/03/2018 7:30:21 AM PDT by Zeppo ("Happy Pony is on - and I'm NOT missing Happy Pony")
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