Gee, tell us something we didn’t know

You gotta love all these studies that get done on common sense things like cow farts or about men falling asleep after sex. Into that class of common sense studies we can now throw the fact that people do choose to read news that fits their views. Well, Duh!

Not happy with the fact that the idea has been long considered textbook or just plain common sense researchers at the University of Ohio decided to prove it with an honest to God study. Their findings?

News readers gorge on media messages that fit their pre-existing views, rather than graze on a wider range of perspectives. In other words, they consume what they agree with, researchers say.

The finding comes out of a recent study which tracked how college students spent their time reading media articles on hot-button issues such as abortion or gun ownership.

Unsurprisingly, students gravitated toward articles that supported their views.

Source: Live Science

The numbers broke down something like this

• participants spent 36 percent more time reading articles that agreed with their point of view
• participants had a 58 percent chance of choosing articles that supported their views
• participants had a 43 percent chance of choosing an article that challenged their view

Okay, now that we have that all cleared up can we get back to this thing about cow farts ’cause I’m sure there is some more money we could waste on this one.