How do you tell the difference between making use of what you have, and confirmation bias?

[Aerindel]

I see this all the time:


People who live in cities think its better to be in a group.

People with short range rifles don't think long range rifles will be needed....people with long range rifles think they are the best way to win a fight.

People don't have a BIL, think no house is defensible. People with a BIL, think all the BOL people are going to die on the road.

People in open land think that will protect them, people in the woods think the concealment will protect them...

People without a 4wd vehicle think 2WD is better, people with 4WD think 2WD is useless....

I see it everyday, and am 'guilty' of it myself.

The question is, how do you tell the difference between making smart use of the situation you are in, with letting the situation you are in, determine your views on the situation you SHOULD be in?

Is it even possible? or desirable? Are we all just victims of circumstance or past decisions?

 

[Hardcalibres]

There is a saying in Africa that translates from Swahili to:

The more I see, the more I know.

The more I know, the better I see.

Confirmation bias seems to flourish when people are filling in the (bigger) gaps between their experiences.......with their imaginations......

What they can imagine is often restricted by Normalcy Bias and wishful thinking.

 

[LadyLocust]

As I was reading your post, I thought narrow minded or open minded.
Have you used both a BIL and a BOL so you can make an educated decision?
Have you used a short range and a long range r!fle then making a decision based on experience?
If you’ve no experience with an alternate item or plan, then you can’t make an unbiased decision. In that situation the decision is really to go with what you know or take a chance with an unknown. That can happen on varying levels almost daily in life. Then you are sorta right there with the saying in Hardcaliber’s post.

 

[montanabill]

Your location, skills, and assets bear heavily on what you see as your reality..
I study history and first person accounts of their own actions and reactions to bad situations to help me understand my own situation..
What went on in Bosnia...
What is going on in south africa....
What is going on in parts of Mexico....

I think the clock is running out on deciding to change your whole situation and certainly time is running out on trying to convince someone else to modify their situation,
Time to play the hand you are delt..