<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,255)"><a href="http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/12/the-human-brain-is-too-weak-for-gossip/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+harvardbusiness+%28HBR.org%29&cm_ite=DailyAlert-120313+%281%29&cm_lm=sp%3Aedameron%40gmail.com&cm_ven=Spop-Email">http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/12/the-human-brain-is-too-weak-for-gossip/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+harvardbusiness+%28HBR.org%29&cm_ite=DailyAlert-120313+%281%29&cm_lm=sp%3Aedameron%40gmail.com&cm_ven=Spop-Email</a><br>

</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,255)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,255)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:22px">The multiplying effect of gossip gets more troubling when beliefs formed through it shape subsequent perceptions. Our minds attend selectively to information that supports already existing beliefs, and to discount information that goes against our beliefs. That phenomenon — confirmation bias — has been </span><a href="http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.93.4839" style="color:rgb(178,0,34);outline:none;text-decoration:none;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:22px">documented in countless psychological studies</a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:22px">. (Mind you, anyone who’s witnessed discussions around contentious political issues — e.g., gun control or Obamacare — should have more than enough data to conclude that people selectively choose their “facts.”) By implanting beliefs, therefore, gossip can dangerously shape subsequent perceptions.</span><br>

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