1. People tend to readily accept information that supports their current beliefs and may be hypercritical of evidence that contradicts those beliefs.

1. People tend to readily accept information that supports their current beliefs and may be hypercritical of evidence that contradicts those beliefs. This idea is expressed in the following quotation by Bertrand Russell:

If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. (Russell, Bertrand. Roads to Freedom.)

One of the benefits of a college education is the opportunity to examine alternative perspectives on a variety of issues.