<p>A recent project has brought an interesting thought to mind. Hopefully this is the correct format to ask this question, as I'm unsure where else I'd receive an educated response. (possibly <a href="https://philosophy.stackexchange.com/">philosopy</a>? Thanks <a href="https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/users/21/steven-jeuris">Steven</a>)</p>

<p>People are passionately opinionated, the subject matter carries little importance in what opinions those are. We perceive information on a cognitive bias based on more factors then I can comprehend. Information can be used to persuade, divert, reverse, or bolster the stance behind said opinions; great lengths are gone to achieve this. But, is there an example or method of presenting information that will be perceived as completely unbiased, objective, and exclusively informative in nature? </p>

<p>For example, if I were to erect a website that displays presidential candidate information (seems to be a hot topic right now), in a purely statistical nature (although, this would bore most), one may find some form of bias in what stats were being presented or which data group was given higher emphasis, etc. </p>

<p>Which leads me to my question: Is it realistically possible to display information in a completely objective manner? Even still, if displayed in this fashion, are we capable of seeing it as such?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-16T01:47:17.397Z
@Izhaki I knew this would come up, and was going to touch on it. Although one might assume 2 + 2 = 4 is entirely objective. It requires some amount of subjectivity in determining what the components represent. I honestly don't have the capacity to explain it all, but there is some debate over the objectivity of mathematics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_mathematics#Contemporary_schools_of_thought

More importantly, we are referring to displaying INFORMATION. Sure this could be maths, but more probably the OP is talking about phenomena. In this case, the answer will always be no.
Doctor David Anderson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-05T07:59:40.630Z
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this fits Philosophy.SE better,  as commented previously by others.
AliceD
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-13T19:24:35.473Z
Possibly more suitable for [Philosophy](http://philosophy.stackexchange.com/), but will await what the community thinks.
Steven Jeuris
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-13T19:25:28.057Z
Thanks, I don't usually poke my head around in philosophy or cognitive sciences, so was unsure; I'll wait as well.
darcher
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-14T13:50:02.133Z
100% a philsophy question. Any decent scientist will give an emphatic no to this question. It is not possible to construe information without some form of bias.
Doctor David Anderson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-15T00:29:02.560Z
@MichaelAnderson "2 plus 2 is 4"?
Izhaki
<cognitive-psychology><bias>
Is it possible to present/perceive information objectively?
darcher
# Is it possible to present/perceive information objectively?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-12-13)

A recent project has brought an interesting thought to mind. Hopefully this is the correct format to ask this question, as I'm unsure where else I'd receive an educated response. (possibly [philosopy](https://philosophy.stackexchange.com/)? Thanks [Steven](https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/users/21/steven-jeuris))

People are passionately opinionated, the subject matter carries little importance in what opinions those are. We perceive information on a cognitive bias based on more factors then I can comprehend. Information can be used to persuade, divert, reverse, or bolster the stance behind said opinions; great lengths are gone to achieve this. But, is there an example or method of presenting information that will be perceived as completely unbiased, objective, and exclusively informative in nature?

For example, if I were to erect a website that displays presidential candidate information (seems to be a hot topic right now), in a purely statistical nature (although, this would bore most), one may find some form of bias in what stats were being presented or which data group was given higher emphasis, etc.

Which leads me to my question: Is it realistically possible to display information in a completely objective manner? Even still, if displayed in this fashion, are we capable of seeing it as such?

**Tags:** cognitive-psychology, bias

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Possibly more suitable for [Philosophy](http://philosophy.stackexchange.com/), but will await what the community thinks.  
> **username_0**: Thanks, I don't usually poke my head around in philosophy or cognitive sciences, so was unsure; I'll wait as well.  
> **username_1**: 100% a philsophy question. Any decent scientist will give an emphatic no to this question. It is not possible to construe information without some form of bias.  
> **username_4**: @MichaelAnderson "2 plus 2 is 4"?  
> **username_1**: @username_4 I knew this would come up, and was going to touch on it. Although one might assume 2 + 2 = 4 is entirely objective. It requires some amount of subjectivity in determining what the components represent. I honestly don't have the capacity to explain it all, but there is some debate over the objectivity of mathematics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_mathematics#Contemporary_schools_of_thought  More importantly, we are referring to displaying INFORMATION. Sure this could be maths, but more probably the OP is talking about phenomena. In this case, the answer will always be no.  
> **username_2**: I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this fits Philosophy.SE better,  as commented previously by others.  

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## 0 answers

