Aside from the usual like dealing drugs and rape and voting Labour, of course.
Here's what Congruence Bias is: "Congruence bias is a type of cognitive bias similar to confirmation bias. Congruence bias occurs due to people's overreliance on direct testing of a given hypothesis, and a neglect of indirect testing."
Let me give you an example. I'm going to provide a sequence of numbers. There's a rule that says whether or not a number can come up next. Suggest a rule, and I'll tell you if it's right or wrong. Suggest a number, and I'll tell you whether or not it fits.
Okay?
2 4 6 8 10
Now, most people immediately see that 12 looks like it would fit, and when they suggest that, I say "yes". So the possible rule that comes back is "Any number will fit that's two more than the previous." Right? WRONG!
Hmmm.
Okay. Well, the numbers are getting bigger. Does 14 fit? Yes. 16? Yes. The rule is . . . any number bigger than the previous one. WRONG!
Hmmm. They're all even. Does 24 fit? Yep. 30? Yep. 50? Yep. Okay, the rule is . . . any even number. WRONG!
Okay okay, well, they do seem to be getting bigger. Does 11 fit? Yep. Would 15 fit? Yep. Okay, rule is . . . any number bigger than the previous one. WRONG!
What's the actual rule? It's just any number under 100.
In real tests, with tasks like this, almost invariably people look at the sequence, work out a rule that fits, suggest lots of numbers that fit with their suggested rule, and take that as evidence it's correct. They're then surprised to be told WRONG.
With a sequence likwe 2, 4, 6, 8 - say you think it's just increasing in twos, and you want to check that, knowing that 10 fits helps but proves nothing. What you need to do is pick some numbers that
don't fit your own explanation. Like 5 and 14, for example. If either of those fit, you know your "up in 2s" explanation was wrong. If they don't fit, then your explanation looks more likely.
People don't do that, though. Instead of looking for evidence to disprove something they believe in (failing to do so acting, of course, in support of their beliefs) they go out of their way to look for things that support them, say "Oh look, it fits!" and then take that as supporting evidence. Otherkin do this
all the fucking time and it does my head in.
You have a hypothesis. It is "I'm not human." And what people do next is usually look for lots of evidence that will confirm it. Freaky dreams, weird astral experiences, personality traits, etc. And completely neglect to look for the kinds of things that would disprove it. Yeah, if you're a vampire you might have weird mood swings. But if you're a
teenager you probably have weird mood swings as well.
What annoys me most is when more serious-minded otherkin try to point this out, and suggest the value of questioning beliefs, or offer questions themselves - something which actually takes time, effort, and energy to do - soooo many of the idiotkin respond by saying "Ohmygod, don't question me!" Sigh. The point of trying to cut someone's beliefs down is not some kind of vindictive aggression. If the beliefs make no sense, they'll fall easily. A couple of questions and the nonsense will be apparent. On the other hand, if the beliefs are sensible and the result of sound reasoning, no amount of questioning, no matter how unpleasant it might seem, will damage them in the slightest.
If you're here to better understand yourself, this is all good news - because you don't want those nonsensical beliefs anyway. On the other hand if you're here beacuse it makes you feel special and motivated to think of yourself as non-human, if that's what you need to get on with your life . . . then go join a support group or something. I'm here to learn about the nature of existence, not to hold hands with people who find it hard to get through the day as a regular human.
A recent member Wrote:Why not ask things that pertains to proving me as Otherkin instead of things that prove me as not one.
Simple. If you are otherkin, then questions designed to prove you aren't will get negative results. On the other hand, questions that try to prove you're otherkin won't do any good at all.
2, 4, 6, 8, 10 can be followed by 12, 14, 16, 18. But that doesn't mean the rule is "two more than the previous number". It just means the person trying to figure the answers out was too damn narrow minded to get to the truth.