EOTO #2 Presentation Review

I greatly enjoyed each and every EOTO presentation given. Some were brand new to me, others I had already known a little bit about, but I learned something in each one. Personally, my favorite one to assess was the Confirmation Bias theory. 

Confirmation Bias is the tendency to only accept and promote the facts and evidence that support your claim, even if there is evidence that contradicts what you say. This can mean you are unaware of or are blatantly disregarding the facts of a particular topic, such as a court case or a political election. It is incredibly common in our society, and the media uses this theory to make money in some cases. That is not to say that every news outlet under the sun does it, but that does mean it is a common practice. It is also incredibly common for individuals. For example, someone who watches CNN probably won't watch Fox News because their beliefs don't align, and vice-versa. To this day it is still incredibly present and, because of how easy it is to fall into combined with the fact that people just generally are afraid to be wrong, it likely won't go away anytime soon, if ever.

Some excellent examples of confirmation bias are the gender wage gap, the 2016 election, and physical appearance. The gender pay gap is something that has existed for a long time, but it holds a lack of information. This has been debated and debunked multiple times. However, a lot of people still cling to this idea given how it has been promoted combined with the sexist connotations behind it being an emotional trigger for some people. The 2016 election radicalized the entire nation in two different directions. Liberals were downplaying the e-mail scandal for Clinton, whereas Conservatives blew it largely out of proportion. Either way, they were both somewhat incorrect and correct at the same time, but people started taking sides anyway. In terms of physical appearance, weight is a big factor of physical attraction. Both men and women generally won't date someone that is on the heavier side, especially if there do not seem to be large redeeming qualities. Being fat also shows a level of laziness and a lack of desire to take care of yourself, which can be seen with how they operate on a daily basis. It is unfortunate that confirmation bias exists, especially with its prominence, but it is just a constant of life.