--- description: Confirmation bias leads us to reinterpret past events in a way that fits our current beliefs title: How to Avoid Getting Tricked By the Past image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Psychology](/tag/psychology/) ## Psychology Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How to Avoid Getting Tricked By the Past by [Shane Parrish](/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 27, 2015 11:00 AM CUT by [Shane Parrish](/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 27, 2015 11:00 AM CUT The fact that new information exists about the past in general means that we have an incomplete road map about history. There is a necessarily fallibility … if you will. In [The Black Sawn](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081297381X/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=081297381X&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20&linkId=6NLAF5755N7TZIMP "undefined"), Nassim Taleb writes: --- > “” --- While I don’t entirely hold Taleb’s view, I think it’s worth reflecting on. As a friend put it to me recently, “when people are looking into the rear view mirror of the past, they can take facts and like a string of pearls draw lines of causal relationships that facilitate their argument while ignoring disconfirming facts that detract from their central argument or point of view.” Taleb advises us to adopt the empirical skeptic approach of Menodotus which was to “know history without theorizing from it,” and to not draw any large theoretical or scientific claims. We can learn from history but our desire for causality can easily lead us down a dangerous rabbit hole when new facts come to light disavowing what we held to be true. In trying to reduce the cognitive dissonance, our confirmation bias leads us to reinterpret past events in a way that fits our current beliefs. History is not stagnant — we only know what we know currently and [what we do know is subject to change](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2012/12/the-half-life-of-facts/ "undefined"). The accepted beliefs about how events played out may change in light of new information and then the new accepted beliefs may change over time as well. **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Farnam Street_**](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2015/05/taleb-history/ "undefined")**_._** **Join over 60,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/newsletter/ "undefined")**.** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3959229/history-lesson-confirmation-bias/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3959229/history-lesson-confirmation-bias/"},"headline":"How to Avoid Getting Tricked By the Past","datePublished":"2015-07-27T11:00:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:36:11.029Z","description":"Confirmation bias leads us to reinterpret past events in a way that fits our current beliefs","url":"https://time.com/3959229/history-lesson-confirmation-bias/","keywords":["Psychology","History","Brain"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shane Parrish","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3959229/history-lesson-confirmation-bias/","name":"How to Avoid Getting Tricked By the Past"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Inside The Operating Room During Awake Surgery","description":"Brittany Capone is having a benign tumor removed from her brain and because it is so close to her speech center, surgeons will keep her awake and talk to her during the procedure","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/lyJruvm0/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-03-02T20:52:14.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lyJruvm0.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3959229/history-lesson-confirmation-bias/","duration":"PT4M57S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3959229/history-lesson-confirmation-bias/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```