Confirmation Bias: Digging up the Truth About Ice Cream

Big Stevia wants you to believe that ice cream is bad for you. Duchess will find the truth! Eventually. On tab 37.

Bam. Knew it. Knew it all along. Ice cream is amazing in moderation, in abundance, in copious amounts. They don't want you to know this but ice cream is a superfood!!!!

Want to learn more about the Confirmation Bias fallacy? Check out our activity pack for fun activities that help you spot this common logical fallacy.

Confirmation Bias in a Nutshell

Confirmation bias is when we search for, favour, and remember information that confirms what we already believe - and quietly ignore anything that doesn't.

Duchess didn't set out to do unbiased research. She set out to prove that ice cream is fine. So when she found "Your Body on Ice Cream," she clicked. When she found "Ice Cream and Diabetes," she clicked past it. "Ice Cream Linked to Cancer"? Clicked past that too. But "New Studies Suggest Ice Cream Might Be Healthy?" That's the one. That's the truth she was looking for. Just as she suspected.

Here's the thing: she wasn't lying to herself on purpose. That's what makes confirmation bias so tricky. It feels like research. It feels like you're being thorough. But if you only stop at the tabs that agree with you, you haven't found the truth - you've just found a mirror.

See all 24 fallacies in What Are the Most Common Logical Fallacies?

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