Counter-Errorism in Diving: Applying Human Factors to Diving27 Jul 2024

SH90: The Backfire Effect: Why our brains make it difficult to change our mind

This week, we dive deeper into the backfire effect, where contradictory information can reinforce rather than change a deeply held belief. When faced with conflicting information, our brains often react emotionally, making it harder to accept new ideas. We discuss how our analysis of information—based on compatibility, coherence, credibility, consensus, and evidence—can be influenced by emotions, leading to belief perseverance. Using examples like nitrox in the 90s and current vaccination debates, we explore how understanding the opposing view can help counter the backfire effect. For divers, staying open to change and analyzing new research and methods is crucial for keeping up with advancements in the field.

Original blog: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/the-backfire-effect-why-our-brains-make-it-difficult-to-change-our-mind

Links: System 1/System 2 thinking: https://www.thehumandiver.com/blog/teaching-on-old-dog-new-tricks-why-it-is-so-hard-to-unlearn-bad-practices

Episoder(313)

SH313: 4. Am I Enough?

In this episode, Connor Tate shares her experience of attending the Human Factors in Diving Conference while struggling with imposter syndrome as a researcher with limited diving experience. Despite u...

10 Okt 9min

SH312: Your Body Can't Cash the Cheque Your Ego Is Writing

We explore how capable, motivated divers can gradually push beyond safe limits when their environment rewards risk-taking and treats near misses as successes. Using the story of a young technical dive...

7 Okt 16min

SH311: 3. Don’t Wait - Learn From Everyday Work Using HOP Principles

This episode explores Human and Organizational Performance (HOP), an approach to safety that starts with the idea that people will always make mistakes, so we should focus on understanding why decisio...

3 Okt 6min

SH310: 2. More Than a Deep Dive: What a WWII Bomber Recovery Can Teach Us About Human Factors

This episode explores what really makes complex technical diving successful: not just helium, decompression and equipment, but the people using them. Using the recovery of the WWII B-24 Liberator Tuls...

30 Sep 8min

SH309: Change around Safety Culture is Really Hard

In this episode, Gareth Lock reflects on why improving diving safety requires more than telling people to follow the rules. Drawing on his experience in aviation, diving, and safety science, he explai...

23 Sep 14min

SH308: We Know, and We Say Nothing

This episode explores why experienced divers still die in situations that seem predictable, using the tragic 2026 Maldives cave accident as a starting point. It looks at how outcome bias, the normalis...

16 Sep 17min

SH307: 1. The 2026 HF in Diving Conference - What Did You Miss?

This episode explores how a restorative just culture can help the diving community respond to incidents in a way that promotes learning rather than blame. Instead of focusing only on who broke the rul...

9 Sep 15min

SH306: Restorative Just Culture: Repairing Trust After an Event

This episode explores the difference between a retributive approach to diving incidents, which focuses on blame and punishment, and a restorative just culture, which focuses on learning, repair, and p...

2 Sep 4min