According to the dictionary, the word bias simply means a preference or an inclination, especially one that inhibits impartial judgment. For example, you might have a favorable impression of the teaching profession because your mother and wife are both in that field.  Or, you might asked to be excused from participating as a juror given your bias against cops following a bad experience you had with a security guard at your school. Confirmation bias, moreover, is the tendency to search for, favor, interpret, and remember information in such a way as to confirm one's preexisting hypotheses or beliefs, while giving disproportionately less consideration to alternative possibilities. The perfect example? Politics. Democratic voters tend to get their information from liberal-leaning networks like CNN and MSNBC while Republicans opt for conservative channels like Fox News.  Indeed, we trust and recall information that fits in with our existing world view while discounting information...

No matter our political affiliation, faith, career, hobbies, or overall outlook on life, we should strive our best to get along and accept each others' differences. The 2016 election demonstrated one glaring fact: the U.S. remains bitterly divided. It pains me to see friends, coworkers, and people on the street bickering over politics, the conversations at times devolving into all-out mudslinging reminiscent of what we saw on the campaign trail. When you find your conversation escalating into a heated argument over immigration, abortion, gay marriage, religion, or any other touchy subject, interject and say, "We'll agree to disagree and leave it at that." Then change the subject. There is enough conflict and resentment in the world as it is. The last thing we need is to engage in a battle of words with people in our lives who mean a lot to us. I'm all for a vigorous intellectual debate. But once talking turns into shouting and shouting turns into a verba...