Epistemological Biases

Systematic distortions in how we know, arising from our location, identity, and commitments. Epistemological Biases include: confirmation bias (seeking confirming evidence); availability bias (using what's easily recalled); anchoring bias (over-relying on first information); cultural bias (assuming our categories are universal); identity bias (knowing in ways that protect identity). Unlike logical biases (about logic itself), epistemological biases are about the process of knowing—the psychological and social factors that shape what we believe and how we justify it.

Epistemological Biases "He only reads news that confirms his views. That's Epistemological Bias—confirmation bias in action. We all have it; the question is whether we know we have it. Epistemological biases aren't failures; they're human. But pretending you don't have them is how they control you."

by Dumu The Void March 1, 2026

Philosophy Biases

Biases within philosophical practice—the assumptions, preferences, and exclusions that shape what philosophy is and who gets to do it. Philosophy Biases include: canon bias (studying the same dead white men); method bias (privileging analytic over continental, or vice versa); language bias (philosophy happens in English, German, French—not in indigenous languages); gatekeeping bias (who gets called a philosopher); progress bias (assuming philosophy progresses like science). Philosophy Biases make philosophy smaller than it could be—a conversation among some rather than a discipline for all.

Philosophy Biases "Your philosophy degree covered zero non-Western thinkers. That's Philosophy Bias—assuming Western philosophy is philosophy, not one tradition among many. Philosophy means 'love of wisdom,' not 'love of European wisdom.' Bias makes the discipline a club instead of a conversation."

by Dumu The Void March 1, 2026

Philosophical Biases

Systematic distortions in how we do philosophy—the assumptions we bring to philosophical questions that shape what answers seem plausible. Philosophical Biases include: realism bias (assuming our concepts map reality); rationalism bias (trusting reason over experience); individualism bias (focusing on individual knowers); presentism bias (judging past philosophers by current standards); technical bias (valuing technical sophistication over wisdom). Philosophical biases are the invisible lenses through which we see philosophical problems—and they determine what we see and what we miss.

Philosophical Biases "He dismissed ancient philosophy as 'primitive.' That's Philosophical Bias—presentism, judging the past by the present. The Greeks weren't primitive; they were asking different questions with different tools. Philosophical bias makes us miss the wisdom in other times and places because we're too busy ranking them by our standards. Philosophy without bias would be conversation across time, not judgment of it."

by Dumu The Void March 1, 2026

Jargon Based Life Form

A human that is quite ambitious and works in private industry and speaks excessively in odd industry terms. These individuals are typically middle management all the way to the top of companies and they constantly spout statements that are popular at the time, jargon and specific to whatever is in fashion in their industry. A good example as of early 2026 would be the CEO of a massive burger restaurant chain taking a tiny bite of a cheese burger and calling it a "product." Suspiciously avoiding any language that may cause the viewer to think the product was actually food.

Investigations indicate that all MBA students are trained to be Jargon Based Life Forms.

I was shocked to be the only non jargon based life form in that board meeting.

by Dr Cornelius Higginbotham March 13, 2026

Evidence-Based Biases

The collection of biases that arise from the misapplication of "evidence-based" thinking—treating evidence as a magic word rather than a practice, demanding evidence asymmetrically, mistaking certain kinds of evidence (usually quantitative) as inherently superior, ignoring the values and assumptions embedded in what counts as "evidence," and using "evidence-based" to dismiss any claim that doesn't fit narrow evidentiary standards. These biases don't reject evidence—they fetishize it, turning a valuable tool into a weapon of dismissal and a shield against genuine engagement with complexity, uncertainty, and other ways of knowing.

Example: "His Evidence-Based Biases meant he demanded randomized controlled trials for community wisdom that had worked for centuries—not because he valued evidence, but because he valued only his kind of evidence."

by Dumu The Void March 13, 2026

Evidence-Based Bias

The specific bias where one treats "evidence-based" as an automatic warrant for one's position and a automatic disqualifier for others', without actually engaging the quality, relevance, or interpretation of the evidence. Evidence-Based Bias operates when someone says "the evidence supports my view" as a conversation-ender, without acknowledging that evidence is always interpreted, that different evidence can support different conclusions, that evidence alone never dictates policy or values, and that "evidence-based" is often claimed by all sides. It's the bias that turns the legitimate principle of grounding claims in evidence into a rhetorical cudgel.

Example: "He kept saying his position was 'evidence-based' as if that settled everything—pure Evidence-Based Bias, using the word 'evidence' to avoid actually discussing what the evidence showed."

by Dumu The Void March 13, 2026

Evidence-Based Fallacy

A fallacy and metafallacy where scientific evidence is invoked to justify positions that lie outside the proper domain of evidence—particularly bigotry, prejudice, racism, xenophobia, aporophobia (hatred of the poor), and other forms of discrimination. The fallacy operates by claiming that discriminatory policies or attitudes are "supported by evidence" (about crime rates, economic impacts, cultural differences) while ignoring that evidence never dictates values, that statistical patterns don't justify moral judgments, and that using evidence to justify oppression misuses the very concept of evidence. It's a metafallacy because it weaponizes the legitimate authority of science to defend what science cannot possibly justify—treating "evidence-based" as a blank check for any position that can find a supporting statistic, regardless of the values, ethics, and human consequences involved.

Example: "He cited crime statistics to justify housing discrimination—the Evidence-Based Fallacy in full flower, using numbers to launder prejudice while pretending that evidence alone could ever justify treating humans as less than human."

by Dumu The Void March 13, 2026