I think the effect a video game had on people's ability to learn about and overcome cognitive bias is really interesting. It sort of shows how important and influential things like movies, tv shows, games and other fictional entertainment can have on a person, perhaps because of the emotional investment attached to it.

This is definitely true for a lot of people, myself including. I think this kind of cognitive bias especially comes through when people are researching for an argument (whether writing for a school paper or maybe a political argument they are having in person or online). I think a lot of people forget to look for information that might disprove their ideas instead, then compare the potentially conflicting information to see how it all adds up. A lot of people might change the way they look at hot, controversial topics if they knew how to side-step confirmation bias.

I think using other people to help check yourself and your own mistakes can be a very helpful thing in many aspects of life. For me personally, I do this sort of "peer-review" in my artwork. Whether it is for a class, or just for fun, I'll usually ask at least one, usually multiple, other people to look at the unfinished piece and tell me what they think, what I can improve, or if something looks off. This of course can translate into other things like writing, making purchases, relationships, and various small and major life decisions.

Throughout this pandemic, I have thought a lot about how people don't seem to know about or understand the concept of a Social Contract. To me, the government taking away 'personal and civil liberties' is essential to keeping a community and society safe. We as citizens agree to sacrifice personal liberties in order to have protection from the government. It's the same reason we all follow traffic laws. We follow restrictions like speed limits and seatbelt requirements put in place by the government because it keeps us all safer. Mask mandates and gathering limitations should be treated the same way.

One of the most important aspects of politics is education. People need to know how to think and find information for themselves. Learning how to discern facts from lies and propaganda is vital to a successful democracy. If everyone is only voting by what their narrow media intake tells them, votes reflect media opinion more than the people's opinions.

This has been one of the most frustrating parts about trying to survive the whole pandemic. Watching people in the media blatantly lie and downplay the dangers and deaths of COVID, only to then see so many people so easily believe it, really kills any hope that the pandemic will end even in the next couple years.