First Saturday Bimonthly

Do I dare piss off the Pope and his supporters?

By Bob Boldt

Surely those who know me would never expect me to mindlessly go along with popular opinion, no matter how widespread or favored. Why then do I view the recent visit of Pope Francis with a somewhat jaundiced eye?

First Saturday Bimonthly: The yes tendency

Charles Dickens's Uriah Heep
symbolizes the internal yes-man

Confirmation bias

By Morris Dean

If you watch police procedurals on television, the chances are excellent that you've seen several in which the police are portrayed as quickly settling on one suspect and ignoring the rest.
    Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek information that validates your existing beliefs, or to interpret, favor, or recall information in a way that does so. The tendency is stronger for emotional issues and deeply held beliefs. It reenforces confidence in your existing beliefs and can even help you maintain them in the face of contrary evidence.