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On the Variational Costs of Changing Our Minds
David Hyland, Mahault Albarracin
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.17957 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.17957

On the Variational Costs of Changing Our Minds
The human mind is capable of extraordinary achievements, yet it often appears to work against itself. It actively defends its cherished beliefs even in the face of contradictory evidence, conveniently interprets information to conform to desired narratives, and selectively searches for or avoids information to suit its various purposes. Despite these behaviours deviating from common normative standards for belief updating, we argue that such 'biases' are not inherently cognitive flaws, but rath…