The sun sets on another day…
As I drove into the sunset the sky was assaulted by a magnificent barrage of color and life. The warmer air was still chilling, but I opened the window off and on for a spray of fresh air.
I had several conversations about bias today. I have written about bias many times and personal bias is at the core of how people grow and react to situations. Bias is defined as “prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair”. We are faced with a lot of positive and negative bias in our lives and of course a lot of things that we learn and find as relatively real or unreal. Bias is important because usually it’s based on things that we don’t completely know, and we just believe. Sometimes bias is very light and does not affect us very much and sometimes biases very pointed and over the top. It is often our personal bias that creates a significant amount of our personality. We determine how we react and interact based on the bias that we have built and not necessarily based on pure fact.
These definitions are easy to look up and on Sunday I had a long discussion with a fantastic person who was playing chakra bowls about bias and belief. I actually had a lot of discussions on Sunday and several interactions that were directly based on bias, and two incidents that were based on bias. Oh, my. Was a fun day huh?
Not really. Every day we are faced with things that are not real and in those we create bias, fair or unfair, to apply to the world. Extreme examples are things like racism and sexism, but how we interact with just about anyone may be based on a programmed bias. A good example for me has always been shoes. If you look at the shoes someone wears you can sometimes tell quite a bit about them, but it is not fair because it takes a portion of a person and creates a complete picture based on past events. Some people create complete worlds out of bias, and they live their bias every day, whether positive or negative.
I am sure you can come up with millions of examples if you think about it but most people see race, sex, national origin, religion, and politics at the top. I try to be more open and listen to people to know them as I have found if I am feeling bias that I realize it may not be valid. I pay attention and listen and try to pick up on their bias to avoid issues caused by me, whether true of false. In the end, it is a chess game that you sometimes win and sometimes lose.
I have digressed.
My conversation this day revolved around people’s self-realizations in eastern philosophy and how easy it has become to set anything that has worked from the past aside. The young woman noted that we have become a world of injections and pills instead of finding our center and it was a bias that built this foundation. She stated that people don’t trust foundations that have worked for a significant amount of time because someone else discards it, even if there is documented proof of something working.
I agreed with the caveat, and we laughed for a while. Many people wrinkle their noses with things like acupuncture or chiropractic medicine, even if it means something. Fun huh? I have found that if you are not sure or don’t know, you should listen, and maybe even do some research. Stop trusting that what you think is true is true unless you know it is true, and even then, take it a little further. We can all find a better world if we just stop being “sure” and instead open our minds to possibilities.
Maybe at the end of it all there is a tunnel that leads us to paying attention to our days today, and not becoming mired in our tomorrows and yesterdays. Maybe looking for tomorrow always is a bias in itself. Maybe we should push the envelope and live today with passion. Just a thought, or perhaps it is a bias.
So as the sun sets on another day, be spectacular. Realize people are great unless they are not. Pay attention to what your bias is saying. Think about the effect your bias may have, good or bad. Consider well who you are, and make your best choices every day, no matter what.
Sleep sweet, love life, and be open…