When people think of bias, they usually think of discrimination against blacks or sexism. As much as I think that it's the whites who are discriminated against and that women should be put in their place, that's not what this article is about.
This issue has been on the back of my mind lately. I've been seeing it haunting the arguments and opinions of all people; professors, pastors, truck-drivers, and children alike - and not even excluding my own. Bias - the subconscious opinions and cultural aspects that influence your thinking. No one escapes it, for it is inescapable.
Let me elaborate. It is ridiculously, deceptively easy to conform to the opinion of someone you respect. Now before you immediately protest this, let me tell you that I fall for it, too. Be it celebrity, friend or parent, if it's someone you trust, their opinions will rub off on you. If not immediately or directly, then openness to the opinions will grow over time.
Yet it goes even deeper than this. We have a sense of 'normality', that is, what we consider to be natural, true, 'it's always been that way' sort of thing. Well duh - everyone has (or should have) equal rights, we assume. That's a no-brainer. But is it, really? What is that idea a result of? Is it a result of what really is true, or is it a result of your society? Think on this - if you lived in India, with the caste system, or in America before the civil war, or in France before the revolution, would you seriously consider all human beings to be equal? I would assume no, because no one else did. So this seems to imply that you believe in the equality of human beings simply because your society has told you this is what it is.
But do you honestly want to base your opinions off of society? Do you want to absorb the opinions of others, or do you want to think for yourself?
I'm not saying that people aren't equal - I'm saying you should think for yourself and not let society tell you what's right or wrong.
Ah, but then that is my point - that is an extremely difficult thing to do. You might take an issue, like human equality, for example, and consciously realize that this is an idea that has rubbed off on you - an idea that you believe only because everyone else believes it. But then, how far do these 'rubbed-off' ideas go? What basis in your assumptions comes from your society, or family or friends?
For example, that God can't exist because He lets bad things happen in the world. Where did you get this idea that God must make things good? Your parents. Your school. What about the idea that you should have the right to own guns? Your friends. Politicians. What about the idea that we must recycle to avoid the impending doom of global warming? Celebrities. Your society. What about the idea that what you eat actually comes out the other end and that you aren't simply constantly expelling strange organs that no one's telling you about? Your teachers. Your textbooks.
But we must realize that simply because other people say it doesn't mean it's right or wrong. I believe God does exist, I am totally for gun control, I think global warming is one of the biggest liberal frauds of the century, and I think that you don't poop organs - but just because people hate me for the first and third issue and agree with me on the second and fourth does not determine the validity of those beliefs.
However, back to the main issue. What I want to plead with you is this - whenever you debate, whenever you argue, occasionally take a step back and look at what you're saying. Are your ideas - not necessarily the argument, but the basic founding principles themselves - stolen from those of your classmates or parents? If there were no society at all, would you still hold to those principles? Are they things you assume simply because "well, they must be so, and that's that"? It's oh-so easy to say "Of course not!" to these questions, but I caution you, be careful not to deceive yourself.
I am guilty of this as well, I will be the first to admit out of anyone. So many times I've looked at what I believe and realized that - wait a minute - I believe this only because my father said so, or because this one book was convincing. How do I know this is really what is true? Simply because it sounds right, feels right, simply because it's what everyone else believes does not make it right. Truth is not dependent on others' beliefs. You must decide for yourself, and do your best to separate yourself from bias. The most difficult part of it all, however, is figuring out that you're biased in the first place.
After all, everyone else just might be wrong.
Antier
