"Popular models of belief formation assume that people do not want to be biased and are unaware that they ever are," write the authors. However, "people are sometimes aware of and condone their biases." This means we can't simply 'educate' them out of their beliefs (even assuming these beliefs were wrong in the first place). What sort of biases might a person have and condone? Well, for example, there are moral biases that "concern the moral costs and benefits of adopting a belief... moral concerns include whether the belief promotes morally good behavior, is respectful, or is risky." These can be contrasted with pragmatic biases, which unlike moral biases, do not influence the likelihood of accepting a belief. The results suggest that we can reach agreement merely by acknowledging our biases. "Pointing out to these two groups that their disagreement reflects their different moral concerns would not change their mind or resolve their disagreement!"
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