How do biases work

[AlexRS]

Here is a pretty good way of looking at it by William James. I would even argue that anybody exhibiting qualities highlighted in bold are victims of this.

Of whatever temperament a professional philosopher is, he tries, when philosophizing, to sink the fact of his temperament. Temperament is no conventionally recognized reason, so he urges impersonal reasons only for his conclusions. Yet his temperament really gives him a stronger bias than any of his more stricktly objective premises. It loads the evidence for him one way or the other, making for a more sentimantal or a more hard-hearted view of the universe, just as this fact or that principle would. He trustshis temperament. Wanting a universe that suits it, he believes in any representation of the universe that does not suite it. He feels men of opposite temper to be out of key with the world's character, and in his heart considers them incompetent and "not in it," in the philosophic business, even though they may far excel him in dialectical ability.

[Darth Tater]

But that would mean everybody is biased! Of course, just because a person is biased does not mean he is wrong.

I am never wrong but I am always biased :laugh:

[AlexRS]

But that would mean everybody is biased! Of course, just because a person is biased does not mean he is wrong.

I am never wrong but I am always biased :laugh:

Not necessarily! James is merely pointing out a human tendency to do so.

Even more interestingly, he presents a pretty strong method to determine whether this tendency has taken hold of someone:

"He feels men of opposite temper to be out of key with the world's character, and in his heart considers them incompetent and "not in it,"

This seems to be THE sign of the tendency.

[Henry]

Philosophy is bunk.

[Darth Tater]

Not necessarily! James is merely pointing out a human tendency to do so.

Even more interestingly, he presents a pretty strong method to determine whether this tendency has taken hold of someone:

"He feels men of opposite temper to be out of key with the world's character, and in his heart considers them incompetent and "not in it,"

This seems to be THE sign of the tendency.

Read it again. Using only the higlighted part, all are biased or else this statment is false. Now, if we do extend out our reading some, we do know he is refering to only philsophers.

[dfitzo53]

Not necessarily! James is merely pointing out a human tendency to do so.

I think it's pretty well accepted that everyone is biased. As an anthropologist studying the extremely wide range of human cultural variation, there's no other conclusion to come to. The degree to which one's bias manifests itself varies, but it's there.