What is confirmation bias?

"If we are uncritical we shall always find what we want: we shall look for, and find, confirmations, and we shall look away from, and not see, whatever might be dangerous to our pet theories." -Karl Popper

"People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for." -Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Problem Statement

Each and every one of us suffers from confirmation bias, which is a tendency to selectively look for or interpret evidence as supporting one’s prior beliefs. In relation to the Anthropocene in particular, individuals may be prone to disbelieve or dismiss scientific theories and evidence that go against their desires or ways of thinking.

Our Vision

Our exhibit teaches the concept of confirmation bias by having visitors role-play examples of the concept, reflect on the activity to understand how confirmation bias was demonstrated, and then respond to a prompt about personal experiences with confirmation bias. Our exhibit is targeted towards museum visitors... particularly visitors in groups of 2 or more. Visitors should leave our exhibit with a better understanding of the definition of confirmation bias, what they are more prone to believe, as well as how confirmation bias affects common decision-making.