Intuition, Ethics, And Biases

Part A: Confirmation Bias - This week, a student was writing an IA for history. During that time, this student had cognitive bias because they only looked at information surrounding their thesis even though there were facts and primary sources that were against their thesis. Another example would be a reporter saying things that only apply to their view and the point they are trying to make, when again, there is evidence that says otherwise.


Part B:Intuition, or knowledge that we harness from within, can help us both see the truth and prevent us from seeing the truth in regards to moral and ethical decisions. Intuition can help us see the truth by being our first thought on subjects, that we may have not even known we have. Just through observing the world around us, our mind is constantly making notes on different aspects of life, though we may not consciously be aware when this is happening, this results in pre-stored areas of knowledge in our brain called schema's. Some people go by the saying "do what your gut instinct is" This "gut instinct" is similar to our intuition in that it is pre-stored knowledge from within us.

Part C: The possession of knowledge does in fact carry a responsibility. People who have knowledge of ethics should have an unbiased view on decisions being made. Looking at the ethical dilemma problems, most people would kill the fat man if he was not innocent, but if he was an innocent bystander, a lot of people would not push him off the ledge. "Knowledge is power" meaning people with knowledge have the most power when it comes to decisions and ethics. They carry a responsibility because power comes with responsibility. No one wants a president that will make bad decisions for the nation. We want someone who will make good decisions but at the same time make ethical decisions.