Science challenges personal views of 'open-minded, reasonable and unbiased'

M

ost of us see ourselves as open-minded, rational, reasonable people who live without bias. Science suggests otherwise.

Again, most of us live in an “echo chamber” – that is our circle is full of like-minded souls who reflect our views and along with that we have an automatic filtering device that shuts down anything unfavourable or inherently uncomfortable or contradictory to established thought patterns.

Those eager to see the world act with enthusiasm to counteract climate change live in an echo chamber that reflects those views as do those who deny human-induced climate change.

And so locked in their respective echo chambers, those in each camp remain convinced of the rightness of their views and so are forever perplexed as to why “the others” cannot see good sense.

This marked divergence of views, and beliefs, is so strong that it frequently manifests conspiracy theories that often present scenarios of world control by environmentalists, and their contemporaries, or caustic views about the ceaseless and careless search for growth putting human wellbeing at risk.

The idea of “echo chambers” has been explored in research discussed in Nature Climate Change.

Attempts at further understanding this “echo chamber dynamic” is comes in a story on ClimateProgress -  “If You’ve Wondered Why So Many Politicians Deny Climate Change, Science Has Your Answer”.