On the failure to eliminate hypotheses · Peter Wason

Confirmation bias examples

Curated by · reviewed 2026-05-31

Confirmation bias is our habit of noticing, believing, and remembering whatever fits what we already think — and quietly discounting whatever doesn't. Examples you'll recognise:

What is confirmation bias? Read the full idea →

5 examples of confirmation bias

  1. Your news feed

    You click, like, and linger on stories that match your view, so the algorithm shows you more of them — and the other side slowly disappears from your world.

  2. Buying a car, then seeing it everywhere

    Once you've decided you like a model, you notice every one on the road and every glowing review — and skim past the complaints.

  3. Googling to "prove" a hunch

    Type "is coffee bad for you" vs "is coffee good for you" and you'll find — and trust — whichever answer you were already leaning toward.

  4. Judging a person early

    Decide someone is lazy on day one and you'll read every late reply as proof, while their hard work goes unnoticed.

  5. Sticking with a failing plan

    You highlight the small signs it's working and explain away the big signs it isn't, because admitting you were wrong is uncomfortable.

How to spot it in yourself

You'll forget most of this by next week.

That's just how memory works. Lock confirmation bias in with a 5-minute active-recall session — spaced repetition, no signup.

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