Wei_Dai comments on Boo lights: groupthink edition - Less Wrong

17 Post author: Morendil 15 February 2010 06:29PM

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Comment author: Wei_Dai 15 February 2010 09:14:19PM *  18 points [-]

I've made the point that we tend to scrutinize posts/comments more carefully for flaws when they argue against beliefs that we hold, which results in subtly flawed arguments supporting a majority position being voted up despite being flawed, while a similarly flawed argument against a majority position will more likely be discovered as flawed and voted down. This results in the appearance that there are more valid arguments supporting the majority position than there really are, and drives away those who argue against the majority position because they think they are being treated unfairly.

Does anyone disagree with this, or think that Less Wrong voters have already adequately compensated for it? Or, if you think this is a real effect, but shouldn't be called groupthink, what is the right name for it?

Comment author: Wei_Dai 27 February 2010 03:38:54AM *  1 point [-]

I came across the information that on the individual level, this is called belief bias:

Belief bias is a cognitive bias in which someone's evaluation of the logical strength of an argument is biased by their belief in the truth or falsity of the conclusion. This effect has been demonstrated in psychological experiments, and is independent of reasoning ability.

(ETA: A search of LW and OB shows that we've never discussed this particular bias before, at least not by name.)