Belief bias

Biological Parallel

Monarch butterflies navigate using a sun compass calibrated during their developmental phase—but this creates a belief bias problem. When experimentally exposed to shifted day-night cycles during metamorphosis, monarchs develop a permanently miscalibrated compass, flying confidently in wrong directions despite contradictory environmental cues. Their navigational 'belief' (established during pupation) overrides current sensory data, leading entire cohorts to fly toward the wrong wintering grounds with complete certainty.