We are all the sum total of our biases. We might not believe so;Â may believe that we are the fairest of the lot, but the fact of the matter is that we cannot but be biased. Our very survival, daresay our very sanity depends upon it.
It is basic and intrinsic to human nature. A simple example is a parent's perception of his or her offspring. Everyone including the parent will accept that it is a case of bias-the child is the best thing that happened to the world. But this is the only case where people would admit to their bias.
In the years leading up to World War 11, when anti semitism was quite the norm among some Europeans there would be constant criticism of the Jews and everything they stood for. But no one would so much so as admit that they were racist. There refrain would be that some of their best friends were Jews!
Our biases operate at several levels. At the level of society, the community and finally the family. Take the attitude of the middle classes to those below them. They would be condescendingly magnanimous say, if their child gave away a toy to their driver's son, and affirm their belief in the equality of man. But should the same driver's son use a cuss word in their presence, the first reaction would be-" what else would you expect?"
The reaction of the poor to those above them is similarly biased. They imagine the middle class people to be universally heartless people intent on exploitation. This is the reason why we see that in most cases of accidents involving cars and poor people, the former are pilloried and cast as the villains of the piece, irrespective of their being at fault or not.
In schools, in work places and even in families there are firm favourites and the children of a lesser god. This is because we as humans are frail and weak, and judge people according to our comfort levels. Whatever or whoever makes us feel good about ourselves we tend to take to, irrespective of merit.
Nobody knows this better than film and sports stars and politicians. When they are at the acme of their glory, the world is their oyster, but as and when they fall from grace, the denunciation is frightfully shrill. We cannot really fight bias, but we have to deal with it at every stage. We all find our ways and means to surmount it to some extent. Take the example of Asian immigrants in the West. They may make their way up, but will never be truly accepted. Look at what Obama faces on a daily basis. Miraculous as his rise has been, he still has to take on the likes of Donald Trump, who question his very integrity.
In our country bias has a hoary and institutionalised tradition what with hundreds of casts, sub -casts, and clans not to speak of different religious denominations. But still India as a country is forging ahead, to the shock of its detractors who marvel at this country's ability to carry on despite its many glaring contradictions.
 Bias or no bias the human spirit compensates. What we need to do is identify them and make allowances for them while doing our thing.
It is basic and intrinsic to human nature. A simple example is a parent's perception of his or her offspring. Everyone including the parent will accept that it is a case of bias-the child is the best thing that happened to the world. But this is the only case where people would admit to their bias.
In the years leading up to World War 11, when anti semitism was quite the norm among some Europeans there would be constant criticism of the Jews and everything they stood for. But no one would so much so as admit that they were racist. There refrain would be that some of their best friends were Jews!
Our biases operate at several levels. At the level of society, the community and finally the family. Take the attitude of the middle classes to those below them. They would be condescendingly magnanimous say, if their child gave away a toy to their driver's son, and affirm their belief in the equality of man. But should the same driver's son use a cuss word in their presence, the first reaction would be-" what else would you expect?"
The reaction of the poor to those above them is similarly biased. They imagine the middle class people to be universally heartless people intent on exploitation. This is the reason why we see that in most cases of accidents involving cars and poor people, the former are pilloried and cast as the villains of the piece, irrespective of their being at fault or not.
In schools, in work places and even in families there are firm favourites and the children of a lesser god. This is because we as humans are frail and weak, and judge people according to our comfort levels. Whatever or whoever makes us feel good about ourselves we tend to take to, irrespective of merit.
Nobody knows this better than film and sports stars and politicians. When they are at the acme of their glory, the world is their oyster, but as and when they fall from grace, the denunciation is frightfully shrill. We cannot really fight bias, but we have to deal with it at every stage. We all find our ways and means to surmount it to some extent. Take the example of Asian immigrants in the West. They may make their way up, but will never be truly accepted. Look at what Obama faces on a daily basis. Miraculous as his rise has been, he still has to take on the likes of Donald Trump, who question his very integrity.
In our country bias has a hoary and institutionalised tradition what with hundreds of casts, sub -casts, and clans not to speak of different religious denominations. But still India as a country is forging ahead, to the shock of its detractors who marvel at this country's ability to carry on despite its many glaring contradictions.
 Bias or no bias the human spirit compensates. What we need to do is identify them and make allowances for them while doing our thing.
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