I have also had repeated encounters with individuals who take the bias literature to provide ‘equal and opposite biases’ for every situation, and take this as reason to continue to hold their initial beliefs. The situation is reminiscent of many economic discussions, where bright minds question whether the effect of a change on some quantity will be positive, negative or ambiguous. The discussants eagerly search for at least one theoretical effect that could move the quantity in a positive direction, one that could move it in the negative, and then declare the effect ambiguous after demonstrating their cleverness, without evaluating the actual size of the opposed effects.
I would recommend that when we talk about opposed biases, at least those for which there is an experimental literature, we should give rough indications of their magnitudes to discourage our audiences from utilizing the ‘it’s all a wash’ excuse to avoid analysis.
I have also had repeated encounters with individuals who take the bias literature to provide ‘equal and opposite biases’ for every situation, and take this as reason to continue to hold their initial beliefs. The situation is reminiscent of many economic discussions, where bright minds question whether the effect of a change on some quantity will be positive, negative or ambiguous. The discussants eagerly search for at least one theoretical effect that could move the quantity in a positive direction, one that could move it in the negative, and then declare the effect ambiguous after demonstrating their cleverness, without evaluating the actual size of the opposed effects.
I would recommend that when we talk about opposed biases, at least those for which there is an experimental literature, we should give rough indications of their magnitudes to discourage our audiences from utilizing the ‘it’s all a wash’ excuse to avoid analysis.