We all have some sort of bias, whether we accept it or not but we all have it. One can debate if our biases affect our thinking or not, whether we make our decisions based on that or not but we all have our biases. I really try hard to overcome my own biases, sometimes I am successful and sometimes I am not. It is not an easy thing to do, many times I struggle, but at least I know that I have a bias and I also know that this struggle is going to be a long and never-ending battle with my mind. To understand why I try so hard to overcome my bias first, we need to understand what bias does to our thinking. The first thing it does is, direct our mind in a particular direction. I realized it during the phase of my life when I was learning to think independently. Our bias can be helpful or harmful to our thinking process, it depends on which direction it directs us and how strong that push is. It is also true that whatever type of bias we have slowly it becomes a part of our thinking process, based on whether we have positive or negative bias we focus on only positive or negative aspects of that particular person or issue. For example, if I don't like Mr. Obama as a president for some reason then I will have very strong negative bias against him. For example, if I don't like him because I don't support his political party, then there is a high chance that I will focus only on the negative aspects of his speech, action, or policy. I will find it really hard to notice any positive parts in his personality and actions. This happens because my dislike for his political party automatically transforms into a dislike for his personality as he represents the political ideology against which I have a strong negative bias, my bias automatically directs my mind to look only for negative aspects or flaws in each and everything he does. The same thing can happen with any other person or issue. If I don't like any particular religion or race I might find only negative things associated with them, I might overlook all the positives associated with it as my mind has already decided that this thing is supposed to be bad, so, for me it can not have anything good. This is what bias does to our thinking and that is why we need to be aware of it and try to overcome it as much as possible. It may not be possible to completely overcome all our biases, but we can definitely minimize them by being aware of the fact that they exist and that is why we need to be careful before completely accepting or rejecting anything.
Now, what is the difference between conscious bias and unconscious bias? Even though both result in the same end result, they are different. Conscious bias can be called plain discrimination, where people knowingly behave in a biased manner because of some prejudice, hatred, or ignorance. We see this type of behavior in many blind supporters of religion, political parties, and some leaders or cult movements. It is easy to point out and recognize this type of biased behavior, politics and religion are fertile grounds for conscious bias. But unconscious bias is rooted somewhere deep in our minds and many times we are not even aware of it. This can be the result of our upbringing, our surroundings, our culture, or the country we come from. We might dislike some religion or some race without even knowing why we dislike it, or we might favor certain food just because we are accustomed to eating it from childhood without even knowing the merits and demerits of that food. This type of bias also affects our thinking in certain ways, as we don't do it purposely, it becomes an integral part of our personality. The first and foremost thing one needs to do is to acknowledge that there is a bias in our thinking, then only we can work towards eliminating or reducing it. Many people refuse to accept that their views are biased, there is nothing wrong in accepting it, but people just don't feel comfortable in accepting this. Taking a particular stand or supporting some political party or ideology doesn't mean that that person is necessarily biased. One can get associated with any ideology without being biased. But criticizing all other things blindly which doesn't agree with your views or opposing something without any rational reasons or data means there is some kind of bias. I personally support certain views and oppose some, but I don't try to silence people opposing me or ridicule them. I always acknowledge that one issue can have many sides or a problem can have many solutions. We need to recognize this diversity of opinion, then only there can be any useful discussion. In today's world, everybody has some opinion almost about everything, the era of the majority is always right doesn't exist in many countries, in a way this is a good thing and this is why we have many ongoing debates about various issues. All of us need to look beyond our biases so that we listen to each other, without cooperating with each other we will only end up arguing without solving any major problems. Let's try to look beyond our bias and try to have meaningful discussions.
Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.
[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]
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