Thank you for your post James. It reminded me of a discussion I had with some teenagers when I worked at a boarding school. We had a presenter come and talk to us about inequality, inequity and the injustice of it all and the students had one question – “we know, tell us how to fix it” and the presenter really did not have an answer. The issues we have recognized as issues today are so big that we ourselves don’t know how to start to fix them. Some of the suggestions appear to be overly simplistic to the extent that they miss the point…other times we have no clue what to do. With the example of these students I was talking to, they want to “fix it” but no one has a sure shot answer for them…

You bring up a fantastic point about how different individuals are conditioned to behave differently. I’ve sometimes had conversations where men talk about female issues with great authority when they don’t have experience to back it up (oh wait! was that a can of worms I wasn’t supposed to mention?!). It is true however, and very unfortunate that someone would feel uncomfortable speaking their mind only because how they would be “judged” later for being assertive in speaking about their own experiences. I wish there was an easy solution and I had a magic wand…but unfortunately we have to go through the rain in order to get to a point where we would not have to think twice about what we said or how we spoke our own truth(s).

I like the questions you pose Sevda. I think that because our upbringing and habits of the society that we live in are so ingrained, Shankar Vedantam states that it governs our “self”, however we have much more complex cognitive structures and I think that you find the bias test and your behavior different because of these higher cognitive structures. When we are conscientious, we employ that complex thinking and as a result have the ability to alter our ingrained responses.

Thank you for your post Neda. You bring up some good points, especially the importance of taking back control of our brains. Did you read Chris’s post (https://blogs.lt.vt.edu/notforclass/2018/03/if-the-stormtroopers-werent-all-white/) as he talks about one of the recommendations an article had on what to do. I wonder what you think of his suggestion.

One point you bring up that really stood out to me (and was lost in the bias conversation) was how much we need to stop and think. However, our society today is really not constructed to stop and think, is it. We have become so fast-paced with our smart cars, smart computers, and smart phones that work so quickly quickly quickly that we have forgotten to stop and think. Yes, unconscious bias are a norm and that is why it is imperative that we teach ourselves and others to stop and think…not jumping to conclusions, not assuming realities, and not making judgments in split seconds would serve us well in the long term.

Thank you for your post Selva, I really appreciate ever single word you’ve written and identify with it. One sentence particularly stood out to me, “Do not question that experience just because you have never experienced it.” Yes! absolutely. There are so many times when I share something of my experiences and people look at me like – I think you’re overthinking it, over judging it, over paranoid about it….it is even more frustrating when you think someone “gets” you and then they actually SAY IT! I also agree with the piece about being tired, and yes do speak up, but I also think speak up for me with my permission because some days I am ready to fight the days I am not I wish someone would stand up for me.
PS – it really isn’t that tough to educate oneself, right?!