"Bias" saturates modern culture so much that most people don't even know they're looking right at it, or doing it themselves. It seems that there used to be more general awareness and knowledge of what it is, and what it looks and sounds like. But media, politics, and corrupt business practice, education, and government has so thoroughly flooded human's perception for so long now that many people believe that their biases are representative of reality; they don't seem to know the difference anymore between bias, opinion,, speculation, and evidence.
It used to be common knowledge that there was racial bias in employment, government, academia and religion, and age and sex bias as well. People who did it would defend themselves, but most of them knew they were doing it and wouldn't try to rationalize it or pretend it was something else. Now, a huge number of people live life through their biases and don't know that they're doing it, and don't seem to care; they seem to believe their opinions and feelings represent objective reality.
If they deny a job to an overweight Asian man, they won't admit that they didn't hire him because of his race or weight, even to their friends, they'll swear up and down that there was a "real" reason, they'll rationalize it to the hilt, even though his application or resume was the best one. If someone sees the applications and points it out, the employer will keep on defending their "reason", finding all kinds of excuses. Same thing with hiring young people, older people, female people, or whoever they deny.
People do the same thing in most other situations, groups and arenas as well. He didn't deny the short Italian guy the drummer position because he was short or Italian, he turned him down because he just didn't have the "chops"... They didn't block the small Irish woman from taking the firefighter test, there weren't any open spots to fill! (so why waste her time...) (strange how they didn't let her know when there was an open position the following week, but there's a reason for that, too) There was no fix in the talent contest, they really DID like the guy who sang off-key the best! (So what if he's one of the judge's in-laws!) They didn't create a hostile environment for the Indian girl in auto mechanics class, she was just overly sensitive, and didn't really fit in with the other students... (It was her fault, really...) The professor didn't fail the Iranian boy's essay for any other reason than the poor prose and lack of originality! No, really...
When the elementary school teacher turns out to be a man, how many modern parents make up stories about why he picked his profession? When the plumbing company sends a female plumber to a customer's house, how many people pick apart the work she did when she leaves (or while she's trying to do it)? When the blond woman shows up at a "black" church, how many members or clergy treat her with the same Christian welcome they would if a dark-skinned woman showed up? When a person shows up to a rock band audition looking very well-groomed as if they just came from a Wall Street business meeting, what's the odds of them getting accepted, unless they are extremely skilled? When a person shows up to a job interview without the "look" (or color, or gender) that the hiring person has a picture of in their head, what are the chances of them getting the job? What will be the excuse? They didn't smile enough? They didn't shake hands right? They smiled too much, they were too nice~~~ they didn't seem like they could emotionally HANDLE the job...
Since no one seems to know the difference between Bias and reality, both those with bias and targets of bias seem to have no idea what they're looking at, or when it IS happening, and when it's NOT.
"Rationalization of Bias" is the new "Denial"; everyone's doing it, it's the fashion, jump on board!
It used to be common knowledge that there was racial bias in employment, government, academia and religion, and age and sex bias as well. People who did it would defend themselves, but most of them knew they were doing it and wouldn't try to rationalize it or pretend it was something else. Now, a huge number of people live life through their biases and don't know that they're doing it, and don't seem to care; they seem to believe their opinions and feelings represent objective reality.
If they deny a job to an overweight Asian man, they won't admit that they didn't hire him because of his race or weight, even to their friends, they'll swear up and down that there was a "real" reason, they'll rationalize it to the hilt, even though his application or resume was the best one. If someone sees the applications and points it out, the employer will keep on defending their "reason", finding all kinds of excuses. Same thing with hiring young people, older people, female people, or whoever they deny.
People do the same thing in most other situations, groups and arenas as well. He didn't deny the short Italian guy the drummer position because he was short or Italian, he turned him down because he just didn't have the "chops"... They didn't block the small Irish woman from taking the firefighter test, there weren't any open spots to fill! (so why waste her time...) (strange how they didn't let her know when there was an open position the following week, but there's a reason for that, too) There was no fix in the talent contest, they really DID like the guy who sang off-key the best! (So what if he's one of the judge's in-laws!) They didn't create a hostile environment for the Indian girl in auto mechanics class, she was just overly sensitive, and didn't really fit in with the other students... (It was her fault, really...) The professor didn't fail the Iranian boy's essay for any other reason than the poor prose and lack of originality! No, really...
When the elementary school teacher turns out to be a man, how many modern parents make up stories about why he picked his profession? When the plumbing company sends a female plumber to a customer's house, how many people pick apart the work she did when she leaves (or while she's trying to do it)? When the blond woman shows up at a "black" church, how many members or clergy treat her with the same Christian welcome they would if a dark-skinned woman showed up? When a person shows up to a rock band audition looking very well-groomed as if they just came from a Wall Street business meeting, what's the odds of them getting accepted, unless they are extremely skilled? When a person shows up to a job interview without the "look" (or color, or gender) that the hiring person has a picture of in their head, what are the chances of them getting the job? What will be the excuse? They didn't smile enough? They didn't shake hands right? They smiled too much, they were too nice~~~ they didn't seem like they could emotionally HANDLE the job...
Since no one seems to know the difference between Bias and reality, both those with bias and targets of bias seem to have no idea what they're looking at, or when it IS happening, and when it's NOT.
"Rationalization of Bias" is the new "Denial"; everyone's doing it, it's the fashion, jump on board!
