People tend to prove to others and to themselves that they are right in what they do and what they say. It is simply a mechanism to protect the person's ego, based on the idea that no one likes it when they are proven wrong. McRaney's essays "Confirmation Bias", "Hindsight Bias", "Backfire Effect", and "Brand Loyalty" discuss the misconceptions people often have when it comes to established preconceptions and dismantle the fallacies to reveal the psychological truth behind the justifications. All four essays share the same concept regarding the human phenomenon of adjusting justifications to legitimize their claims. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayThe ability to selectively choose certain information to strengthen one's position is important in everyday human behavior. The average person generally has the human instinct of wanting their statements to be accurate. The blind pursuit of infallibility makes individuals likely to deny their existence in order to cope with the selfish idea that they can do nothing wrong. McRaney's "Confirmation Bias" and "Backfire Effect" essays reflect the error of specifically cherry-picking certain pieces of information to confirm their sole point of view. Both misconceptions focus on the effect that information has on a person, after which the person seeks to reinforce their beliefs based on that same knowledge. “Confirmation bias” involves picking apart and cherry-picking particular pieces of information to confirm their opinions while ignoring those that “challenge your preconceptions.” McRaney further illustrates a succinct example of the fallacy in real-world events: “If you consider purchasing a particular brand of a new car, you suddenly see people driving that car on every road. If you've just ended a long-term relationship, every song you hear seems to be written about love. If you're expecting a baby, you start seeing babies everywhere. Confirmation bias is seeing the world through a filter” (28). People look for things that match their opinion. If it fits their view, they choose this specific information to further increase the legitimacy of their belief. This concept is also associated with the “Backfire Effect” essay in that they both reinforce an individual's beliefs. Error occurs “when your deepest beliefs are challenged by contradictory evidence,” thus “your beliefs become stronger.” Similar to the first misconception, segmented information stimulates the reinforcement of an individual's beliefs. Both fallacies do not take into account the possibility of being incorrect and instead seek to benefit only the initial ideas. Conceptually, separating this information can improve an individual's position when it comes to intellectual arguments. However, the problem lies in the social approach in which individuals integrate errors into their behavior, creating a toxic "can do no wrong" perspective resulting in the constant denial of important information that debunks their reasoning, even with simple things that only require important information. common sense. Instinctive denial deters people from learning because they unconsciously choose to remain ignorant. One example cited by McRaney is that of Barack Obama's legacy: "which is why die-hard skeptics who believe that Barack Obama was not born in the United States will never be satisfied with the amount of evidence put forwardsuggesting the opposite. » Ignorant individuals choose only to satisfy their ego, no matter how absurd their opinion may be. They choose what reinforces their statements while ignoring information that proves otherwise. The other two essays that McRaney writes about include “hindsight bias” and “brand loyalty.” Both of these errors involve shifting responsibility to make it appear as if the individual has always been true all along. The desire to protect one's position while avoiding the bad side of the spectrum stems from the social stigma of shame when an individual makes a mistake (no matter how insignificant). McRaney's "hindsight bias" states that "you often look back at things you just learned and assume that you knew or believed them all along." The tendency to adjust responses afterwards or justifications for one's actions in order to directly protect one's morality are excellent examples of bias. According to McRaney, hindsight bias is: "You tend to change your memories so you don't look so stupid when things happen that you couldn't have predicted." When you learn things that you wish you had known all along, you assume that you knew them” (32). By using this tactic, it becomes that much easier to convince yourself that you were not wrong in order to preserve the individual's pride. Another misconception similar to “hindsight bias” that people also make is the “brand loyalty” fallacy. McRaney describes it this way: “You prefer the things you own because you rationalize your past choices to protect your self-esteem.” Just like “hindsight bias,” this fallacy also commits the flaw so that the individual can prevent themselves from hurting their pride. This is another defense mechanism used to validate previous choices made so they don't have to face the fact that they committed in the name of faulty judgment. In the essay, the statement "they altered their memories to suit their emotions" is very similar to "hindsight bias", because the tendency to alter their memories is another fault perpetrated to protect the individual. Another statement from McRaney is that "once a person is branded, they will defend the brand by finding the faults of the alternative choice and pointing out the advantages of their own." This last error integrates the other three previous misconceptions, confirming the connection between the four essays. They converge on each other to illustrate how the individual manipulates external information and his own statements for the benefit of the position he occupies. The problem with these four fallacies is the fact that these misconceptions are psychologically ingrained in the human psyche, resulting in the manipulation of certain misconceptions. information to satisfy the selfish desire of an individual. The stigma of being wrong ultimately comes from the social construct that society has created. People collectively believe that it is shameful to be wrong, and therefore, they establish ways to avoid this stigmatized shame. According to McRaney, “a number of cognitive biases converge to create this behavior.” This is evidenced by the combination of the four fallacies to create what is the misconception of “brand loyalty”. The elements of each error influence each other because they have essentially the same concept to illustrate; which require manipulative tactics to preserve the pride of the individual. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay It is the effort to unravel these misconceptions that will help a..