This is exactly precisely right, @ankapolo :-) At least, as far as it's possible to understand the thing you do the understanding with, this post covers most epistemological bases. And that only as far as my knowledge about that deep and difficult niche of philosophy goes; I admire your trying to tackling this omnipresent human trait and you take it much further than I've ever done in any of my posts; yes, I also try to dig into my own mind and try to keep that darn thing open for any new insights, and flexible enough to discard beliefs I already formed over many years. This takes constant conscious effort as you and I both know the "dangers" of confirmation bias; evolution has "designed" us to act in groups or tribes, so even our biology, our body-chemistry is poised to make us feel good when the group's paradigms we've made our own are confirmed. The brain literally releases a small amount of dopamine when we see a like or upvote; it's why so many younger people are literally hooked on their mobile screens...

But this is my general tactic: stay skeptic above all. Evidence is still the best way to belief as many true things as possible. When learning something new, we should try to detach ourselves from previous convictions as best as we can. I've noticed this is becoming harder as I age. The strange thing is that I know this, but still can't help it... Some beliefs are so deeply ingrained that they're pert of my auto-pilot, part of the 90% or so of ones actions (and words) that come without thinking about it. What's also not widely admitted is that conscious thinking, i.e. keeping the mind open, takes a lot of energy, that's why it's a real effort to give opposing views and opinions an honest chance.

At this moment I can't really think of anything else to add. Like I said before: I agree wholeheartedly with all you're saying here, and I'm looking forward to the next installment of this series ;-) <3

(P.S. Could you give me a reminder in Discord? I don't always catch all the new articles in Helpie; we're getting so big so quick it seems, which is a good thing :-))