Re-sharing - a post I wrote back in June 2013 but think it needs to be addressed again!
There has been a lot of discussion in the media
about racism, sexism, homophobia, equality… (There is no need to identify these
stories because they could be any story; even your own story of being oppressed,
discriminated against, of judged). I will address these issues because they are vital
to making the world a better place; so we can do better now that we will know
better! To do this we must first understand
implicit bias and confirmation bias. EVERYONE
makes judgments based on both of these biases.
They are rooted in our upbringing and may be so deep you are not aware
they exist. But do not think that you are
not prejudice or bias because we all are; it’s human nature.
Understanding Bias:
Implicit bias is the unconscious attitudes and
beliefs that can be expressed overtly or covertly. These implicit biases develop early in our
lives and can occur even if we believe we have no biases toward others. Implicit bias can be measured (Harvard has
done some great research in this area).
These biases are not only about race but also about: age, disabilities,
religion, gender, and so on.
Watch this video of Alan Alda taking this test
and explain implicit bias.
Here’s the link to check your own implicit
bias: Implicit Bias Test
People do not base their decisions and opinions
on fact but instead on confirmation bias.
Confirmation bias is the process of paying attention to information
about a person/topic/issue that confirms (validates) your belief/opinion and
ignoring, minimizing, or rationalizing the information that does not support
your belief/opinion. The more
emotionally charged an issue or topic is the more this bias occurs. The recent political race is a perfect
example of confirmation bias. If a
person liked one presidential candidate then most of the things that candidate
said or did was spun in a positive light.
The other candidate could have done or said the exact same things but
these would have been seen in a negative light.
Our brains automatically engage in low-effort
information processing which consists of stereotyping and judgments (implicit
bias). We then look for information
that validates these beliefs and opinions while we ignore or minimize
information that disproves these beliefs and opinions (confirmation bias). This happens with EVERYONE!
This can change only if we do a few things: First, we need to acknowledge and accept that
we have biases. We need to be openly
admit these to ourselves. Second, we
need to willingly look at all the evidence and use our OWN critical thinking
skills. Decisions need to be made based
on evidence (not only the evidence you want to look at - that's confirmation bias). This is not easy because
your biases will get in the way. We
expect others to be emphatic to understand us, our points of view, and accept
our values and beliefs but we often don’t practice empathy to others.
Remember that empathy is NOT feeling what
another person feels it is UNDERSTANDING the other person’s emotions, experiences,
situations… It does not mean that you
have to agree with the person but that you understand why they believe what
they believe and feel what they feel.
When you have empathy you don’t try to change another person’s belief to
your belief. You don’t judge others
because empathy is the antidote to bias, bigotry, and bullying!
When people become aware (conscious) of the
potential for prejudice, they often attempt to correct for it and are less
likely to exhibit bias behaviors (overt and covert). Nevertheless, just understanding implicit
bias and confirmation bias is not enough.
Actions, with the intent to do better, must occur on a daily basis.
Please watch the final video of Oprah speaking
about Maya Angelou words “when you know better, you do better.” (If you have not watched any of the other
videos than please watch this one.)
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