As Georgia becomes the latest US state to report a case of measles, many across the land are shaking their heads in disbelief. How can otherwise intelligent, well-intentioned parents choose not to have their children vaccinated? It’s tempting to conclude that the problem is simply a lack of information. Give them the facts and they will see the light. Not so fast. The parents—all of us, in fact—are susceptible to a quirk of human nature variously called “selective exposure” or “confirmation bias.” Simply put, we gravitate to information that bolsters our convictions (about anything) and reject that which undermines them. This not new. In the 16th century, Francis Bacon observed that “The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion… draws all things else to support and agree with it.”

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