Definition:
The bias blind spot occurs when a person easily recognises bias and partiality in others but fails to recognise them in themselves. The mind views its own errors as logical and justified, while it labels the very same errors in others as biased.
Explanation and function:
In this bias, a person distinguishes between their own “good intentions” and the “outcomes of others’ behaviour.” For this reason, they consider their own actions fair while labelling the actions of others. This phenomenon appears in almost all human beings and is unrelated to intelligence or level of education.
Classic example:
In the famous “invisible gorilla” experiment, many people fail to notice a person in a gorilla suit while counting passes. This example shows that human beings overlook parts of reality even in the simplest situations, let alone in more complex mental biases.
Mental mechanism and outcome:
The mind evaluates others’ behaviour by looking at its outward appearance, but evaluates its own behaviour by referring to its intentions.
As a result, a person fails to see their own biases and resists feedback, learning, or criticism.
This resistance can undermine the quality of decision-making and hinder cooperation with others.
Real-life examples:
1. Politics:
Peter calls accurate criticisms of his preferred party “biased,” yet considers analyses that fit his beliefs to be valid, even when they are weak or illogical.
2. Economics:
Maria assumes that research contradicting her financial beliefs is “unscientific,” but accepts research that aligns with her views without examination.
3. Research:
David highlights data that confirm his hypothesis and labels opposing data as “sampling error.”
4. Daily life:
Anna considers logical critiques of her preferred viewpoint to be “misunderstandings by others,” rather than the possibility that her own view may be mistaken.
Here, it should be noted that…
1. The mind hides its own errors in order to preserve a positive self-image.
2. Bias often operates unconsciously, which makes it difficult to see.
3. Dialogue becomes fruitless when each side only accuses the other rather than examining itself.
Why is this bias dangerous?
- It removes a person’s ability to criticise their own thoughts, speech, and behaviour, and it creates resistance to learning and relearning.
- It leads to unjust judgements in politics, economics, and everyday life.
- It disrupts cooperation, friendship, and constructive dialogue.
- It traps a person in a cycle of false confidence in their own judgements and condemns them to repeat their mistakes.
How can we recognise and deal with it?
To identify it, we should ask ourselves:
– “Do I assess the accuracy of my judgement based on evidence and logic, or do I assume I am unbiased simply because I had good intentions?”
– “If another person behaved in the same way, would I not call it bias?”
– “Is my discomfort with a criticism due to the criticism being unfair, or due to my lack of willingness to acknowledge my own mistake?”
The appropriate approach is this: Before judging the bias of others, we should review our own decision-making process and ask knowledgeable people to examine our judgements impartially.
Connection to Wise Education:
Wise Education, as required by Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, teaches that a person must first recognise their own mental filters and see realities as they are, not as they assume they should be.
Someone whose bias blind spot is active loses the ability to understand, tolerate, and cooperate, and they lose the possibility of constructive dialogue.
Recognising one’s own biases is the first condition for achieving intellectual fairness and for living peacefully with other human beings and with nature.
Conclusion:
The bias blind spot reminds us that a person sees their own errors as smaller than they truly are. They notice faults, but not in themselves, only in others. They can point out the shortcomings of others, yet have little desire to consider the possibility of shortcomings within themselves.
Freedom from this bias is an essential step towards seeing reality and moving closer to truth.