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Question: Is there a word for noticing things that support what you want to believe and ignoring everything else!?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
belief bias : "the tendency to abandon logical rules and form a conclusion based on one's exisiting beliefs"Www@QuestionHome@Com

faithWww@QuestionHome@Com

faith is more related to believing in something without supporting evidence; I would use a word more like conviction!. Maybe I am splitting hairs here but thats how I see the difference!.

Using 'religious' would be a little bit of an insult in my mind!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The word you want is abstraction - reducing the information you have on a topic until only the stuff you want remains!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Bias -

To have a bias is to notice only what you want to see, from a limited perspective and excluding other things!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

opinionatedWww@QuestionHome@Com

"cognitive dissonance" is the term you are looking for!. There is a fantastic book called "Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me)" by Carol Travis that discusses the harm of cognitive dissonance!. You can also look at the Wikipedia entry for the term here: http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Cognitive_d!.!.!.

You could also use "faith", but I don't think it fully encompasses the idea!. I always liked the quote by Mark Twain: "Faith is believing what you know ain't so!."Www@QuestionHome@Com

Atheism!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Self-delusionWww@QuestionHome@Com

FollyWww@QuestionHome@Com