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Information Overload: Brain Expert John Medina on Combatting Cognitive Biases

Molecular biologist explains how our brains take shortcuts and how to improve critical thinking at NCSL Legislative Summit.

By Lesley Kennedy  |  August 7, 2024

If you’re feeling stressed, overwhelmed or just plain confused by the onslaught of competing messages thrown at you in today’s 24-7 information blitz, molecular biologist John Medina understands.

It turns out, he says, that your brain is simply doing too much.

“The human brain’s processing speed is too slow to comprehend consciously all the information being supplied to it,” Medina, a brain expert and author of the best-selling “Brain Rules” series, said during a general session at the 2024 NCSL Legislative Summit. “So, it has to take shortcuts. And we call those shortcuts biases.”

Information overload, he says, causes a “bottleneck problem,” he explains, forcing us to either ignore most of the information coming at us, or listen to those biases.

“Biases are part of that shortcut experience,” Medina says. “It is not because you are lazy. It's not because you're stupid or bigoted or evil. It's because you are overwhelmed.”

Four familiar biases

Medina identifies four notable biases, which he calls “nasty habits”:

The Illusory Truth Effect. People are more likely to believe something is true simply because they have heard it repeated a number of times.

“The earth is flat. No, the earth is round. Repeat that multiple times,” Medina says. “Vaccines are good. No, vaccines are bad. You're corrupt. No, you’re corrupt. Over and over again.”

The effect has two components: the presence of repetition and belief based on repetition. And that, he says, comes from the fact that human memory is really bad.

The Mere Exposure Effect. We tend to prefer things simply because we are familiar with them.

“The illusory effect is credibility. The mere exposure is preference,” Medina says. “You not only believe repeated information, you prefer repeated information.”

Negativity Bias. Adverse events have a more significant psychological impact than positive ones because the brain’s main job is to survive and constantly look for threats.

“When we are faced with two inputs of equal emotional strength, we remember the negative one,” Medina says. “We remember traumatic experiences better than positive ones. We recall insults better than praise.”

To a Hammer, Everything Is a Nail. If you think people only act out of self-interest, you will see everyone that way, Medina says. Conversely, if you think people only act out of principle, you will see everyone that way. ”This bias alters not only the way we see people but the way we consume information about them.”

Maximizing Critical Thinking

To maximize critical thinking and tackle misinformation, Media points to the SIFT program developed at the University of Washington. Originally designed to help students evaluate the credibility of online content, it now also has a strong artificial intelligence component as well. Here’s what SIFT stands for:

S: Stop. “Slow down when you encounter important information,” Medina advises. Pause and read carefully before reacting. “Don't let your initial emotional response be your final reaction,” he says. “Be deliberate.”

I: Investigate. “Perform due diligence on a piece of information,” he says. Ask about the origins, authorship and whether you are in an echo chamber. “Do I like this information because I agree with it? Do I hate this information because I disagree with it? Do I like this information simply because I have heard it before?"

F: Find. This is all about trust and determining the original source. “Build up a library of trusted sources, not necessarily the ones you agree with, but the ones you can actually trust,” Medina says.

T: Trace. Track down the context in which an assertion is made. “Determine if the words taken out of context are a legitimate claim or an attempt to cover up an error,” Medina says.

Lesley Kennedy is NCSL's director of digital content and publications.  

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