Boghossian-Lindsay-Pluckrose Bias

A version of Sokal Bias named after the architects of the "Grievance Studies Affair"—the hoax papers submitted to academic journals in fields like gender studies, queer theory, and fat studies. The Boghossian-Lindsay-Pluckrose Bias uses the existence of these hoaxes to dismiss entire fields as fraudulent, ignoring that the hoax revealed weaknesses in peer review, not the worthlessness of disciplines. The bias assumes that because some bad papers were accepted, all work in these fields is suspect; because hoaxes succeeded, the fields themselves are hoaxes. It's Sokalism weaponized, using a single scandal to condemn entire traditions of scholarship.

Example: "He cited the grievance studies hoax as proof that gender studies was worthless. The Boghossian-Lindsay-Pluckrose Bias had done its work: one scandal, entire field dismissed. He never read the actual scholarship, never engaged with real arguments. The hoax was all the evidence he needed."

by Abzugal March 8, 2026

Science Communication Bias

A bias where individuals, including professional science communicators, present and interpret science through the lens of their own views, paradigms, values, and assumptions. Science Communication Bias recognizes that there is no neutral, objective way to communicate science—every choice about what to emphasize, what to omit, how to frame, and what language to use reflects the communicator's perspective. A science communicator who believes in technological solutions will emphasize different findings than one who emphasizes systemic change; one who trusts industry will frame risk differently than one who is skeptical. Science Communication Bias doesn't mean science communication is worthless; it means we must be aware that it's always coming from somewhere, always shaped by someone's perspective. The bias is especially problematic when communicators present themselves as neutral conduits of "the science" while actually selecting, framing, and interpreting through their own paradigms.

Example: "The YouTube science channel presented itself as just reporting the facts. But Science Communication Bias was at work: they emphasized studies that fit their worldview, downplayed those that didn't, framed uncertainty as certainty when it served their narrative. They weren't lying; they were just communicating from a perspective—and pretending they weren't."

by Abzugal March 9, 2026

Bias of Exposing

A bias where individuals or groups engage in "exposing" others—revealing alleged wrongdoing, hypocrisy, or scandal—while being selectively blind to similar or worse behavior in their own side. The Bias of Exposing is what makes partisans obsessive about the other side's scandals and oblivious to their own. It's the bias of the whistleblower who only blows the whistle on enemies, of the accountability activist who only holds the other side accountable. The Bias of Exposing is a form of motivated perception: we see clearly what serves our interests and are blind to what threatens them. It's the cognitive engine of hypocrisy, the fuel of selective outrage.

Example: "He spent hours exposing corruption in the opposing party but never mentioned scandals in his own. The Bias of Exposing wasn't deliberate hypocrisy; it was genuine blindness. He saw what he was motivated to see and was blind to the rest. His outrage was sincere—and selective."

by Abzugal March 9, 2026

Hegemony Bias

A bias and meta-bias that combines objectivity bias (thinking one's views are objective), neutrality bias (thinking one's position is neutral), impartiality bias (thinking one's judgments are impartial), and normality bias (thinking one's way is normal) into a unified framework of assumed superiority. Hegemony Bias is the cognitive architecture of cultural dominance: the assumption that one's own perspective is not just a perspective but the perspective—objective, neutral, impartial, normal. Everyone else is biased, partial, interested, deviant. Hegemony Bias makes its holders incapable of seeing themselves as others see them, incapable of recognizing their own position as a position. It's the bias of empire, of privilege, of power that has become invisible to itself.

Example: "He thought his views were objective, his position neutral, his judgments impartial, his way normal. Hegemony Bias had made his perspective invisible to him—not a perspective at all, just reality. Everyone else was biased; he was just correct. The bias was invisible to him, which is how it worked."

by Dumu The Void March 10, 2026

Impartiality Bias

The bias of believing that one's own judgments are impartial, free from bias, unaffected by interest or identity—while recognizing that others are biased. Impartiality Bias is the conviction that you are the exception, that you see things as they really are, that your judgments are pure. It's the bias of judges who think they're above politics, of journalists who think they're just reporting facts, of scientists who think they're just following evidence. Impartiality Bias makes its holders incapable of examining their own partiality, because they don't believe they have any. It's the bias that denies it's a bias, which is what makes it so powerful.

Example: "He presented his analysis as impartial, unbiased, just the facts. Impartiality Bias meant he never had to examine his assumptions, his interests, his position. His impartiality was invisible to him—not a claim to examine, just a fact about himself. Everyone else was biased; he was just impartial."

by Dumu The Void March 10, 2026

Normalcy Bias

The bias of assuming that one's own way of being, thinking, and living is normal—and that anything different is deviant, strange, or wrong. Normalcy Bias is the cognitive foundation of prejudice, of ethnocentrism, of every system that treats difference as deficit. It's the assumption that how I live is not just how I live but how people should live, and that those who live differently are not just different but wrong. Normalcy Bias is invisible to those who hold it because their way of being feels not like a choice but like reality. They don't see their own culture; they see the world. Everyone else has a culture; they have normality.

Example: "He couldn't understand why other cultures did things differently. To him, his way wasn't a way; it was just 'normal.' Normalcy Bias meant he never had to examine his own assumptions—they weren't assumptions, they were just reality. Other people were strange; he was just normal."

by Dumu The Void March 10, 2026

Objectivity Bias

The cognitive bias where a person believes their own views constitute objective reality, unbiased facts, and neutral truth—while dismissing anyone who disagrees as biased, delusional, or irrational. Objectivity Bias is the conviction that your perspective is not a perspective but reality itself. It's the bias that makes dialogue impossible because disagreement becomes not difference but error, not alternative but falsehood.

Example: "He didn't think his views were views; they were just reality. Objectivity Bias meant everyone else was biased; he was just correct. The irony was invisible to him, which is how it worked."

by Dumu The Void March 10, 2026