Political Bias

The thing that's ruining wikipedia. Btw the side of the political spectrum I'm on is

"Okay, so we're making a new article on Insert politic here, and we gotta remember to leave out as much political bias as possible."
Wikipedia editor: 😨😰

by iminhellplshelpahhh January 1, 2025

Asshole Bias

The tendency to dislike or disapprove of someone’s actions, regardless of their nature, once they’ve been widely deemed an "asshole" by others and their inconsiderate behavior has solidified your personal dislike for them. Even when you recognize that you engage in similar behavior—behavior that isn't inherently rude or malicious—you’ll still feel disproportionate annoyance or anger toward their actions.

"I know I can be a bit loud in public sometimes, but when Sonya raises her voice like that, it triggers my asshole bias—I just can't stand her doing it, even though it's something I’ve done myself."

"I’ll admit, I sometimes text during movies, but when Mark does it, it drives me crazy. His constant texting just sets off my asshole bias"

by McLovin17# January 7, 2025

Laboratory Bias

A systemic flaw where data and phenomena observed in controlled, simplified laboratory conditions fail to accurately represent their behavior in the messy, complex, and interconnected real world. This bias arises because labs deliberately isolate variables and eliminate "noise," which often strips away the very contextual forces that shape outcomes in nature, society, or technology. The lab result is "true" only within its sterile vacuum, creating a potentially dangerous illusion of understanding that cracks under real-world pressures. It's the map that's perfectly accurate for a single, empty room, but useless for navigating a city.

Example: A social psychology study on altruism conducted in a lab with college students playing for token rewards might show people are fairly cooperative. This Laboratory Bias would completely miss how altruism collapses under real-world stresses like economic scarcity, tribal politics, or anonymous online interactions. The lab finding is valid, but its translation to reality is broken.

by Dumu The Void February 4, 2026

Rationalized Bias

A sophisticated form of self-deception where one's pre-existing prejudices, desires, or ideological commitments are retroactively supported by elaborate, internally consistent rationalizations. The person constructs a logical-sounding edifice to justify a conclusion they arrived at for emotional or tribal reasons, believing themselves to be purely rational. The bias lies in the motivated reasoning that builds the rationale.

Example: A person opposed to immigration reform crafts a complex argument citing selective economic studies, abstract principles of sovereignty, and crime statistics. This Rationalized Bias allows them to believe their stance is reasoned, when its roots are in unexamined cultural anxiety and identity politics. The logic serves the bias, not the truth.

by Dumu The Void February 4, 2026

Logical Bias

The error of privileging formal, deductive logic above all other ways of knowing (empathy, intuition, experiential knowledge, moral reasoning) and dismissing any argument that doesn't fit into a neat syllogism as "illogical" and therefore invalid. It's a bias that mistakes a specific tool for the entire toolbox of human understanding, often to coldly justify inhuman conclusions.

Example: "Logically, a corporation's only duty is to maximize shareholder value. Therefore, laying off 10,000 people to boost stock price is not just permissible, it's illogical not to do it." This Logical Bias uses a narrow, amoral logical framework to justify a human catastrophe, dismissing ethical concerns as sentimental "illogic."

by Dumu The Void February 4, 2026

Factuality Bias

The rigid and often disingenuous demand that arguments, especially in social or political realms, must be supported only by quantifiable, hard "facts," while excluding moral reasoning, ethical principles, visionary ideals, or appeals to justice as "subjective" and therefore irrelevant. This bias artificially narrows discourse to only what can be measured, silencing debates about values, rights, and the kind of world we ought to build.

Example: In a debate about poverty reduction, one side argues from a moral imperative for human dignity. The other retorts, "Show me the facts and economic models that prove dignity increases GDP, or your argument is just feelings." This Factuality Bias attempts to reduce a moral imperative to a spreadsheet calculation, dismissing ethics as irrational.

by Dumu The Void February 4, 2026

Normality Bias

The oppressive use of "normality"—defined by dominant social, cultural, or political groups—as a cudgel to dismiss arguments, identities, or ways of life that deviate from that imposed standard. It asserts that what is statistically common or traditionally accepted is inherently right, rational, and healthy, while anything else is defective, radical, or invalid. It's a bias that mistakes convention for truth.

Example: Arguing against universal childcare by saying, "The normal family has a stay-at-home mother, so policy shouldn't support other models," uses Normality Bias. It leverages a descriptive (and arguable) claim about what's common to make a prescriptive judgment, shutting down debate about what might be better or more just.

by Dumu The Void February 4, 2026