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In 2013, a team of researchers held a math test.
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The exam was administered to over 1,100 American adults,
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and designed, in part, to test their ability to evaluate sets of data.
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Hidden among these math problems were two almost identical questions.
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Both problems used the same difficult data set,
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and each had one objectively correct answer.
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The first asked about the correlation between rashes and a new skin cream.
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The second asked about the correlation between crime rates and gun control legislation.
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Participants with strong math skills
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were much more likely to get the first question correct.
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But despite being mathematically identical,
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the results for the second question looked totally different.
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Here, math skills weren't the best predictor
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of which participants answered correctly.
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Instead, another variable the researchers had been tracking came into play:
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political identity.
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Participants whose political beliefs aligned
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with a correct interpretation of the data
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were far more likely to answer the problem right.
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Even the study's top mathematicians
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were 45% more likely to get the second question wrong
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when the correct answer challenged their political beliefs.
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What is it about politics that inspires this kind of illogical error?
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Can someone's political identity actually affect their ability
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to process information?
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The answer lies in a cognitive phenomenon
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that has become increasingly visible in public life: partisanship.
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While it's often invoked in the context of politics,
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partisanship is more broadly defined as a strong preference or bias
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towards any particular group or idea.
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Our political, ethnic, religious, and national identities
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are all different forms of partisanship.
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Of course, identifying with social groups
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is an essential and healthy part of human life.
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Our sense of self is defined not only by who we are as individuals,
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but also by the groups we belong to.
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As a result, we're strongly motivated to defend our group identities,
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protecting both our sense of self and our social communities.
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But this becomes a problem when the group's beliefs
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are at odds with reality.
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Imagine watching your favorite sports team commit a serious foul.
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You know that's against the rules,
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but your fellow fans think it's totally acceptable.
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The tension between these two incompatible thoughts
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is called cognitive dissonance,
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and most people are driven to resolve this uncomfortable state of limbo.
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You might start to blame the referee, complain that the other team started it,
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or even convince yourself there was no foul in the first place.
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In a case like this,
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people are often more motivated to maintain a positive relationship
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with their group than perceive the world accurately.
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This behavior is especially dangerous in politics.
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On an individual scale,
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allegiance to a party allows people to create a political identity
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and support policies they agree with.
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But partisan-based cognitive dissonance can lead people to reject evidence
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that's inconsistent with the party line or discredits party leaders.
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And when entire groups of people revise the facts in service of partisan beliefs,
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it can lead to policies that aren't grounded in truth or reason.
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This problem isn't new—
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political identities have been around for centuries.
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But studies show that partisan polarization
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has increased dramatically in the last few decades.
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One theory explaining this increase
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is the trend towards clustering geographically in like-minded communities.
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Another is the growing tendency to rely on partisan news
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or social media bubbles.
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These often act like echo chambers,
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delivering news and ideas from people with similar views.
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Fortunately, cognitive scientists have uncovered some strategies
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for resisting this distortion filter.
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One is to remember that you're probably more biased than you think.
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So when you encounter new information,
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make a deliberate effort to push through your initial intuition
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and evaluate it analytically.
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In your own groups, try to make fact-checking and questioning assumptions
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a valued part of the culture.
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Warning people that they might have been presented with misinformation
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can also help.
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And when you're trying to persuade someone else,
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affirming their values and framing the issue in their language
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can help make people more receptive.
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We still have a long way to go before solving the problem of partisanship.
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But hopefully, these tools can help keep us better informed,
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and capable of making evidence-based decisions about our shared reality.