User:Anjalisankar/sandbox

Review on Confirmation Bias Article

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias

-For the most part the article explained confirmation bias from a more general perspective, however in one of the paragraphs, it did explain confirmation bias from a psychological perspective rather than talking about how it effects embodied inequality. -The article is fairly recent and was last edited on September 4, 2018. The article could have gone in depth to explain how confirmation bias and personality in general effects scientific racism and embodied inequality. -As stated above, the only part that could have been improved would be to add a focus on specifically introducing how confirmation and personality bias effects epistemology and scientific racism. -This article is very informative and does not sway towards a particular side. -The article talks a lot about confirmation bias from a psychological perspective and psychology in general, however other than that there are no points that are over/underrepresented. -Yes, the links throughout the article work and provide further information about what is in the paragraph. The links at the bottom of the page about related topics also help the reader to further understand the topic at hand. -There are no bias sources and all facts came from reliable, informative sources. -There are not any conversations as far as I can tell related to this source. -This, I believe, is a regular wikipedia article. -This article talks about this topic from a psychological perspective, for the most part. Whereas we talk about confirmation bias and how it relates to epistemology.

Addition to Wikipedia Page - Due 10/15 at noon

Wiki article for addition, specifically for the "Skepticism" portion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology

Epistemology

Scientific article on skepticism and implicit bias: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/implicit-bias/#Ske

There are two “branches” of skepticism: the first, evaluates how implicit bias affects our own sense of judgement and perception on certain topics, while the second specifically shows us how prejudice has the capacity to affect our epistemic motives as a whole. These two types of skeptic thinking is just the basis for understanding how those with epistemic motives are sometimes hindered due to their own beliefs and prejudice. Those with implicit beliefs pertaining to a certain topic are more likely to have an impaired sense of judgement in seeing the truth the scenario at hand versus what they want to see; a concept commonly referred to as, “Confirmation bias”. This method of thinking raises the concern that implicit bias and prejudice will overpower epistemic motivation and will create a new sense of belief formation that can seem more uneducated and narrow-minded than intended.

An individual’s epistemic motivation, implicit bias, and therefore, skepticism, is reliant on environment, social influences, and inherit beliefs that are influenced by specifically family during adolescence. Another large concern is skepticism on a global and broader scale. Those with specific prejudice and implicit bias, seeking information to backup a certain claim or hypothesis, have a tendency to have reservations pertaining to research and information resources. This is commonly referred to as “Bias-related doubt” and is known, in the scientific field, to be “stronger” than any other type of skepticism that may befall a researcher. Bias-related doubt proves that an individual's epistemic discernment cannot always be trusted, and one must look at the topic at hand subjectively and with an open mind; this is the only way to gain accurate information and produce accurate results that appear intelligent as well as precise.

For those who are adamant about backing up their claim, skepticism linked to implicit bias and prejudice is known to hinder a researcher’s credentials by making them shy away from relevant and essential questions pertaining to the topic at hand. More often than none, a individual’s, or an organization’s, research and work can be discredited due to implicit bias and skepticism, or lack thereof depending on the topic.

Looking at skepticism and implicit bias from an ethical perspective is the most challenging as prejudice creates an internal quarrel between morals and ethics versus an individual’s epistemic motivation. A prime example of this conflict is the idea of stereotypes, specifically individuals with a prejudice against races or gender. Those who were raised in a society where racial categories were a vital aspect in the structure of everyday life will have a more difficult time in separating their epistemic motives from their ethical beliefs. This way of thinking will, again, lead to a strong sense of skepticism when those not exposed to different cultures and races meet those coming from various cultural backgrounds and countries. Those who are not educated in a certain topic, and therefore have an implicit bias against or for it, will naturally have a strong sense of skepticism relating to the other side, especially when learning from another primary source.

The question of whether it is worth giving up ethical values in order to feed epistemic motives, or vice versa, is still up in the air. It is evident, however, that implicit bias has a strong influence on an individual’s search for information and conduction of research. It evokes a strong sense of skepticism in areas and questions that are crucial for research and answers in order to produce fact-based results.

Word Count: 578 words