Heuer states that readers aren’t only biased but the information they read is biased since “most human-source information is secondhand at best.” All information has a bias. Ultimately, the reader will “perceive what they expect to perceive” before engaging with news about current events. They may convince themselves that they want to learn more. But they rarely take into account their own expectation of what they think they will learn. For example, if a viewer watches the news, they may want to learn new information, but their perception of the world deeply affects their expectations of what they will actually comprehend. Our “expectations have many diverse sources, including past experience, professional training, and cultural and organizational norms. All these influences predispose [readers] to pay particular attention to certain kinds of information and to organize and interpret this information in certain ways.” Readers actively pick out pieces of information from the media to reaffirm their thoughts about the world. “Patterns of expectations tell [readers], subconsciously, what to look for, what is important, and how to interpret what is seen. These patterns form a mindset that predisposes [readers] to think in certain ways. A mindset is akin to a screen or lens through which one perceives the world.” This sets many readers at a disadvantage because they are less capable of retaining accurate information since their biases interfere. “[New] information is [always] assimilated to existing images” a reader has about the world. It is difficult to to combat cognitive bias since it is “similar to optical illusions in that the error remains compelling even when one is fully aware of its nature. Awareness of the bias, by itself, does not produce a more accurate perception. Cognitive biases, therefore, are, exceedingly difficult to overcome.”
