MONDAY, MARCH 15, 2021- BIASES

 MONDAY, MARCH 15, 2021- BIASES

(The middle of any month in terms of the Roman Calendar was called the “ides” of the month.  So, in the play “Julius Caesar”, when the words “Beware the Ides of March” were uttered - it was referring to this day (in century one - a long time ago).

This has been in my mind for a while, I would love to say “I have no biases, I’m bias-free” - but that isn’t true.  All of us have biases.

Definition of bias:

prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair.

cause to feel or show inclination or prejudice for or against someone or something.

"all too often, our recruitment processes are biased toward younger candidates"

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CONFIRMATION BIAS:

Confirmation Bias states that the human brain welcomes information that confirms what it already thinks and resists information that disturbs or contradicts what it already thinks

I have my mind made up - and then I hear something that agrees with what I’m already thinking - that WOW - I have confirmation.  WOOHOO!!  

I’m sure that Confirmation Bias existed in the last election.  When I heard things that agreed with my thoughts - that was confirmation. And, I definitely resisted information that went against what I had already been thinking.  (I used Snoops and other fact-checking sites multiple times on a particular candidate and only a few times on another candidate - did I believe what they were telling me?)

Aside, I do like checking facts (especially in the political arena).  There are statisticians behind the scenes verifying information.  If I was President (and I’m glad I am not), and I said “Under my leadership, poverty is down, unemployment is down, the happiness index is up”, I would want to check that.  (Second aside - most public officials have data analysts working for them, so before I make an important speech, I’d want the facts - the correct data!!!)

And, there is also a human relationship in confirmation bias.  If I like you - I will tend to accept your opinion more than somebody I don’t know of like!!!

So, LMG, PK, RP, RP, PB, and so many others, I trust your judgment!!! 

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COMPLEXITY BIAS:

“The public  will believe a simple lie rather than a complex truth," said 19th-century social critic Alexis de Tocqueville.”

This reminded me of answering children’s queries such as “Grandma, why is the grass green?” with simple answers such as “God needed to have many colors in the world”; instead of getting into photosynthesis, color pallets, the color spectrum.  

But, as I did my research for biases, the opposite was also used for bias.  We like complexity over simplicity - especially in the work environment. “Counter-intuitively we often prefer to make things seem more complicated than they really are, or to try and tackle complex problems rather than simple ones.”

There was another view (time to be a consultant again) “Consultants can make challenges or recommendations appear more complicated than they really are in order to justify a higher fee.”

There are times I WANT a simple answer - “Would you just tell me!”.  I think I sense that longer answers are “beating around the bush”.  

I have found that complexity tends to be the situation.  I’ve recently had difficulty with my car.  It had a new transmission in January 2020.  About July 2020, the check engine light went on and it was a ‘transmission” problem - but I’ve learned that it isn’t just transmission - it could be a software problem.  I’ve had my rear taillight assemblies replaced because my check engine light was on (simple explanation, there was a ‘short’ in the taillight assemblies that was causing the engine to believe the transmission was not working right.  (Okay, so why was my car jerking and bucking when I stopped?) 

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COMMUNITY BIAS:

that our brains find it hard to see anything that will get us in trouble with the group that we belong to and that we cherish. 

This is hard for me.  I do (and have had) strong communities.  I am a white person, from the upper midwest (Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wisconsin).  I was raised in a strong conservative Christian home.  I was an educator.  I’ve never been black, I’ve never been homeless, I’ve never had cancer.  I’ve never done a lot of things.  In terms of community, I find myself in a new and strange community of being a woman - and in a small subset - being a transgender woman.  If someone from a similar background says something there is a higher chance that I will agree with it.  

There are some people who have encouraged me in this large community relating to my changes, and still others in my larger community that tell me that I am wrong!!!  

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I’m thinking of “blinders” for horses.  In the early days of horses and cars, horses would get spooked when cars (or even bicycles) drove by.  So, horses were outfitted with blinders so they wouldn’t see the cars.  People (like horses), put (invisible) blinders on.  They can be “biases”, so we don’t see the real thing - we see what our blinders allow us to see.  So, when a black man dies in police custody - we can see that the black man is in the wrong because of our bias.  My “community” doesn’t have any close black friends, but I do have police friends - so my bias goes one way.

There are more biases that we will see in the next few days.  

LOVE WINS!!!

HUGS!!

Karen