Confirmation bias has crept into mainstream discourse like a sleeper hit indie song, thanks to analyses of our ever-intensifying political divides—and the role of algorithmic newsfeeds in entrenching users’ beliefs and dehumanizing their opponents. Broadly, the bias is characterized by a universal tendency to favor information that validates our existing views and discard that which refutes them. It’s an ancient heuristic that oozes into nearly every decision a person might make, from macro-level political ideologies to minor daily character assessments (say, swiping left on a potential date
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