Humans unconsciously filter experience based on what they already believe (called confirmation bias). Seeing is not believing – rather, believing is seeing. Despite specific scientific methods to address this bias, it continues to confuse and confound science, leading to errors, mistakes, and failures – many on a monumental scale.

Confirmation bias begins the moment a person has a belief, regardless of its origin or truth, even if the belief is harmful to the person who has it. (Remember Prosper-René Blondlot and the great fiasco of N-Rays?)

Why would we evolve such a seemingly maladaptive trait? Surprisingly, despite the damage, without confirmation bias, forward progress in science would stop. It’s even essential to human thinking.

In this Science on Tap, Dr. James C. Zimring will explore how and why confirmation bias both drives science forward and can also drive it off a cliff. He’ll explore the questions:

• How do we harness the remarkable advantages of confirmation bias?
• How does promoting diversity maximize those advantages?

James C. Zimring MD, PhD holds the Thomas W. Tillack chair in experimental pathology at the U of Virginia. For the last 20 years, Dr. Zimring has been highly involved in teaching the “science about science” at the graduate and undergraduate levels, as well as a course on scientific thinking for high school. Dr. Zimring has published two books on the topic: What Science is and How it Really Works (Cambridge University Press) and Partial Truths (Columbia University Press).