Information-less Bias

Am I biased? Someone recently asked me that, and I replied, “Sure I am—we all are. But I am biased toward truth, not toward any particular viewpoint.”

Ha. That sounds pretty arrogant, doesn’t it? Yet it’s true. The real problem, however, lies in determining what is truth. And how does one typically arrive at it? Usually through one of two primary channels: empirical evidence or external information. Both come with complications. There is, I suppose, a third way—intuitive knowing—but that path is even trickier.

Let’s begin with intuitive knowing. I place a great deal of trust in this form of truth-seeking. It often serves as the first subtle twinge that something I’m being told doesn’t quite ring true. I frequently draw support from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay Self-Reliance, which champions trusting one’s inner compass (see my article on that piece if you’re interested).