Blinded by Agenda

There are dozens of cognitive biases and logical fallacies to which we are vulnerable. This vulnerability arises from our brain’s need for efficiency, and a tendency to take short cuts in processing vast amounts of information available to us. Though it is possible to hold opposing information and thoughts at once, giving us time to reflect and be thorough, we often instead choose well-worn paths of thought and choice. This facile habit means we can be off the mark in perceiving others, sometimes wildly so. This pattern can happen in our closest relationships, which means that it likely occurs with greater frequency in other relationships. A result is that we often fail to see others as they truly are, or what I call seeing others in three dimensions. This is a form of interpersonal blindness.

Strong agendas can escalate this failure in perception through a process called directionally motivated reasoning. The idea is that when we are primed to reason in certain directions before an encounter we are likely to miss ambiguous or disconfirming evidence, or even the ability to pause and reflect for a bit first. Any agenda, political or not, can produce this effect. If you throw in quick, reflexive reacting which occurs over time, thereby reinforcing underlying beliefs, the effect can become a rote, unthinking habit. One that may be increasingly divorced from the full range of information about something or someone. No one is immune from this. We all have the capacity to listen to reply instead of listening to understand. At this last link you can find this quote:

“This phenomenon is called Miller’s Law, after psychologist George Miller who said in 1980 that ‘In order to understand what another person is saying, you have to assume that (their answer) is true and try to imagine what it could be true of.’ Miller found that many people apply this principle in reverse, or what’s known as competitive listening. They hear something and have a negative reaction, because they believe what the other person said is false. Listening stops, and communications breaks down.”

The stronger the agenda, the stronger the pull of directionally motivated reasoning, and the more likely we are to succumb to interpersonal blindness.

Humans are complicated creatures. We are able to hold many forms of opposites in our thoughts, feelings, and behavior at the same time. We can change our minds whenever we want. In the spirit of exploration we can try something out to see if it works for us and those around us, and later try something else that might work better. Just because someone appears to have an opinion does not mean they are incapable of seeing things another way. This is not fickle or wishy-washy, though it can seem that way if we are primed to think that first. Flexibility and adaptability have been hallmarks in the successful evolution of our species, so it’s odd that we at times see these as weaknesses and prefer rigid judgment and exclusion instead. These are habits of the lazy brain.

In ancient times before cognition became more sophisticated we may have had reasons to form simple, binary categories, such as friends vs enemies, based on resources and perceived threats to the community. With tens of thousands of years of repetition these become hard-wired in neuronal loops. But it is possible to evolve further, in a new world, through one simple technique: interruption. Just as we can change an old habit, say smoking or eating highly processed foods, by recognizing the reflex and then interrupting it for maybe 30 minutes, so we can change our habits of thought in how we perceive others. We have to slow everything down while the digital world is telling us to move faster.

What we do with those 30 minutes is important. Refrain from those well-worn paths that we take ourselves or hear repeatedly from news or advocacy outlets. Be curious about what you don’t know and what more can be known. See the person in three dimensions. Or more! Find out what varieties in life that person brings which are unknown to you. Wonder over what you can do, together, that makes life better for everyone. Life is so complex now and we need every brain, every experience, every mode of living on deck to solve today’s problems. While threats are real, especially posed by those with psychopathic traits, we can acknowledge that reality and be prepared without reacting reflexively to every perception.

It’s easy, and I think lazy, to tear things down. Building is harder and more deliberate, but it’s also how humans got through very dark times. We should celebrate this evolutionary gift.

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