Mullis: Seeing is believing, but it may not be the truth

My son is taking a psychology course at Kellogg Community College and it seems to fascinate him. He routinely tells me facts he finds interesting, and he is not one to offer up information without being asked unless it’s about sports.

The last fact he shared was about sports.

He said science has proven sports fans actually see the same event differently based on what team they want to win. It doesn’t matter the call on the field or the instant replay. The good guys either won or they were wronged.

I’ve seen this play out in my own family and among my friends, regardless if we are watching professional baseball or peewee soccer – especially peewee soccer. No fan is more loyal than a parent watching a child. It must have something to do with the mama bear and papa bear in us. Our kid didn’t screw up. The official missed the call, the runner never touched the bag, the hit was clean, the offender was offsides.

And for every parent yelling “FOUL,” there is a parent across the field yelling “FAIR.”

I’ve seen more parents tossed out of games than coaches. And for those holding their tongue, you can hear them grinding their teeth and muttering under their breath. It’s not because they are hotheads. They just believe what their head is telling them.

But according to psychologists, our heads may not be telling us the truth. We take in what confirms our bias and filter out what challenges it. It’s not a conscious thing, which makes it hard to correct.

Although I love to keep score during my son’s baseball games, I shy away from keeping the official book. The difference between an earned run and an error could be whether my kid is pitching or batting.

Sure, I’d call them like I see them, but am I really seeing them?

At least with school sports, we can salve our frustrations with learning curves and amateur officials. When it comes to professional sports, we expect perfection from our athletes and the officials. The closer the call, the more indignant we become over perceived injustices to the home team.

And the home team isn’t determined by wins and losses, but by genetics and geography.

My husband’s family is from Ohio. Despite growing up in Michigan, my husband is an Ohio State fan, along with his father and our son. I grew up in Detroit. I’m a die-hard Tiger fan, as the generations before me and the generation after me. My grandfather was a true Honolulu-blue Lions fan, which makes us Lions fans no matter how cursed the team is or how many Thanksgivings they’ve ruined.

However, if my husband’s family had called Ann Arbor home, he could have been a Michigan man. If my forefathers settled just a few hundred miles south, I could have been a Cleveland Indians fan. If my grandfather had lived anywhere but Detroit, we would be anything but Lions fans.

Thoughts like those had me thinking about politics — not the governing part, which few people seem interested in anymore — but the good-versus-evil part that dominates our current culture. Corruption infiltrates both sides of the aisle, sparking investigations galore. However, whether an investigation is a “witch hunt” or a “quest for justice” depends on whether you identify as blue or red.

This idea of subjective truth makes me uncomfortable, which makes me aware. And being aware may be the best way to combat our faulty wiring on and off the field.

Nicole L.V. Mullis is the author of “A Teacher Named Faith”. You can reach her at nlvm.columns@gmail.com or www.NicoleLVMullis.com.