An Ironic, Christian Approach to Confirmation Bias

So I am paddling around the shallow end of the pool this morning, preparing to discuss confirmation bias in class this morning. We are going to be talking about a Michael Shermer op-ed that I have used before (read it or this post won't make nearly as much sense):

http://resonancetechnologies.com/press/articles/ThePoliticalBrain.pdf

As I cast about the web looking for a way to extend this for an entire class discussion (I am going to be using psychic cold reading as confirmation bias in action), I came across a blog post ("Confirmation Bias") at the Christian website Challies.com that quotes Shermer at some length and then says:

Like Dr. Mohler, I am “suspicious of all efforts to reduce human consciousness and cognitive activity to measurable or observable studies of the brain. There is a connection there, no doubt, but biological reductionism (and its close cousin, biological determinism) is a woefully inadequate explanation for human thinking and behavior.” To reduce human cognitive function, thinking, feeling and believing to mere imaging results is clearly inadequate in explaining the intricacies of the brain, the will and the heart. I don’t believe that we can ever neatly map out human reason or that we can ever solve how and why humans love, feel and believe.

[...]

When we affirm the doctrine of the fallenness of man, we affirm that through the Fall we have been corrupted in every way. The depravity of man extends to every area of his being so that nothing remains untouched. We are unable to use our minds without allowing emotion to interfere with reason. Clearly this poses a threat to intellectual integrity.

I'll say! You refer to an article that lays out fairly completely a case for what biological parts of the brain are operating during the unconscious process of picking and choosing those elements that confirm your pet theory, and then, BANG! You see evidence of the Fall. It could not be a more perfect illustration of the tendency you are discussing, honestly.

HJ