Unfair Unbalance - Bias Me

Bias? Me? Impossible… or so I thought. But ‘Bias’ isn’t always loud or deliberate – it’s often a quiet habit shaping how we listen, decide and even judge without us noticing.

Prejudices are what fools use for reason; a gentleman can see a question from all sides without bias. This sadly is not common as invariably one arrives at beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what one finds attractive and convenient. Having a preference for or against something in an unfair or unbalanced way you are biased and one is part of a large community with this tendency.

To understand people it is often hard because we generally do not listen without being bias. There are often times people do not ask for your part of story because the side they heard fits how they want to feel about you.

There are numerous types of human biases, with classifications often overlapping but the common ones include: cognitive biases: confirmation bias, availability bias, anchoring bias, overconfidence bias, and hindsight bias. These biases can distort our perception of information leading to decisions based on personal beliefs, recent experiences, initial information, or perceived certainty of past events.

Everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion - but not twisting with facts. It may be interesting to examine a few examples in our daily affairs that one’s quiet habit shapes how we listen decide and even judge resulting in discrimination and inequitable outcomes:

Biases in relationships must be dealt with caution. The way we perceive, interpret and respond can easily lead to misunderstandings.

In a workplace environment, unconscious biases can affect hiring and promotion decisions, work assignments and career tracks all can end up as part of harassments, hostile work environments and discrimination lawsuits.

As parents if we do not recognize and name our own biases, it may just be hard for children to do so.

In media, religion and politics being bias can influence actions that are discriminatory. It can surface and perpetuate into collective conversations when defending harmful actions. In these areas much is second hand, without verification based on assumptions distorted reasoning and incomplete information. We can be blind to the obvious and we are also blind to our blindness.

Scriptures address biases through its emphasis on justice, equality, and compassion, encouraging believers to transcend personal prejudices and uphold ethical conduct towards all people, regardless of their background or beliefs.

Lastly a fact on machines; Artificial Intelligence though called intelligent does not own feelings or biases like humans do. In a conversation with the AI, I asked, “Are you biased?” It replied, “I don’t have feelings, but I can reflect them — yours.” What was said is true in the existing stage of technology as AI does not carry ego or emotion as yet, it can mirror our patterns—both fair and flawed. And unless we are vigilant, our own biases will shape the tools we create, unknowingly embedding the very faults we seek to rise above.

It’s important to not only understand bias as a concept, but to do self-reflection work that uncovers personal biases and learn to develop counter-behaviours. Knowledge can dispel bias but only if we are open to learning. Interrupt your bias by asking “what do I know to be true”.

It may not be humanly possible to be free ourselves of biases, but for a serious mind a bias recognized is a bias sterilized.