How to Overcome Confirmation Bias by Adopting a Falsification Mindset

How to Overcome Confirmation Bias by Adopting a Falsification Mindset
How to Overcome Confirmation Bias by Adopting a Falsification Mindset

If you’re going to claim that you know something, you have to be willing to admit that you could be wrong about it.

Make yourself falsifiable

  • If we find evidence that seems to contradict our beliefs, we should stop to see if perhaps we need to abandon or modify our belief

Why is falsification important?

  • It helps you to avoid many cognitive biases that can hinder intellectual growth and good decision making
  • Makes you a clearer thinker by forcing you to be specific about what you think you know, and what evidence you have
  • Boosts your creative thinking by making you naturally more receptive to new ideas and helping you more quickly process them

Putting the falsification mindset into action

  • The falsifiability mindset is all about thinking through the implications of beliefs, judgments, and decisions
  • Clarify what your actual belief is
  • Confront the possibility that you could be wrong
  • Saturate to changing your mind under specific conditions

How to adopt a falsification mindset

  • For any belief you have, ask what it would take for you to change your mind.
  • Be specific about what evidence would make you believe you are wrong.
  • Seek out that evidence and change your belief if you find it.
  • If you adopt the mindset, you should be able to see that your attitude will change.

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