MAIN IDEA:

This book explores the concept of myside bias, a cognitive bias where individuals tend to evaluate evidence, generate evidence, and test hypotheses in a manner biased toward their own beliefs and preferences. The author argues that this bias significantly contributes to polarization in society, particularly in political, scientific, and social contexts.

Key points of the book include:

• Myside Bias: The author delves into how this bias leads people to filter information through their pre-existing beliefs, often ignoring or dismissing evidence that contradicts their views.
• Impact on Society: The book discusses how myside bias exacerbates divisions, especially in areas like climate change, vaccination debates, and political polarization, where individuals on different sides of an issue struggle to engage in meaningful dialogue or recognize valid points from the opposing side.
• Cognitive Reflection: The author promotes the idea of cognitive reflection and critical thinking as antidotes to myside bias. He suggests methods and educational strategies to help individuals think more objectively and critically about information they encounter.
• Rational Thinking: The text emphasizes the difference between intelligence and rational thinking, pointing out that high intelligence does not necessarily correlate with unbiased, logical reasoning. He advocates for educational reforms that foster rational thinking skills.
• Solutions: the author proposes various approaches to mitigate the effects of myside bias, such as teaching better argument analysis, promoting an understanding of cognitive biases, and encouraging environments where questioning one’s own beliefs is valued.

Through these themes, Stanovich aims to provide insights into why rational discourse is often undermined by cognitive biases and suggests ways to bridge these divides by fostering more reflective and less biased thinking.

MY TAKE ON IT:

Myside bias is an unavoidable part of human nature, and there is no conceivable way to change it through education, training in rational thinking, or any other measures. It’s good enough that humans mainly stopped killing each other because of religious, cultural, and other contradictions, at least when it does not involve Islam. Hence, the right way to look for a solution to myside problem is not to find a way to convince each other but to restructure society so that everybody could live according to their beliefs and convictions without attempting to force others to comply with them. This means genuine federalism at the level of states, actual democratic governance at all levels below that, and the ability for each individual to move between groups with different cultures at minimal cost. Indeed, it also includes complete rejection to coerce others to comply with one’s opinions and demands by force.

There are only a few situations when everybody should be and do the same, which involves defense from external enemies, criminal elements, and limitations on economic activities related to externalities such as pollution. Other than these situations, myside problem is irrelevant as long as individual freedom is maximized, and people can have the life they wish.