Everyone has their biases

{child_byline}By Steve Trotter{/child_byline}

Everyone has their biases

{child_byline}By Steve Trotter{/child_byline}

Everyone has their biases

{child_byline}By Steve Trotter{/child_byline}

We’re all in the same boat. We may protest, insisting “Not me!”

But it is in me. It’s in you, too. Everyone. No exceptions.

Cognitive bias.

“Cognitive” has to do with thinking, awareness, the way things get processed in the space between our ears.

“Bias” has to with decisions, making a judgment, and the way we are almost pre-programmed to see things or people or situations a certain way. Bias is a shortcut, helping us decide or judge quickly, without having to spend much time considering or thinking.

A few nights ago we had corn on the cob as part of dinner. My wife and I love the stuff. As I shucked the two ears I remembered spending the night with my cousins in British Columbia. My aunt Yvonne had found a nearby farm selling fresh corn. She bought, to my young eyes, what seemed to be at least fifty ears.

That was supper. Corn, which requires no improvement but some butter and a little salt, sure don’t hurt. My cousin Drew and I consumed corn as if it were our last meal. We gorged ourselves. And then some.

Why not one more ear, just to top things off? OK.

I was awake the entire night, moving the contents of my digestive system into the bucket Yvonne placed on the floor beside my bed.

For years afterward I couldn’t eat corn on the cob. I had developed a cognitive bias against corn on the cob. Frozen corn? No problem. Canned? If I have to. On the cob? Nope. Ain’t gonna happen. I am biased against that horrific form of corn that caused me a long night of unpleasantness.

A few nights ago? I’ve learned a few things since that night at my aunt’s. I had one ear I enjoyed with a little salt, no butter. It was tasty and satisfying. My bias didn’t get in the way of my enjoyment.

What happened to that bias? I thought about it. I examined it thoroughly. Was corn the problem? Clearly not. Was it my aunt’s house? No. Being in Canada? No, again. The problem was me: I was a glutton; I ate too much corn. It had unpleasant results. My bias formed and stuck for many years.

That’s a bit silly, I admit. But biases frequently are. And the biases we all carry around stick around unless we pull them out, take a good long look at them, and make decisions about what is cooking in our brain whether we acknowledge it or not.

That’s the challenge: we’re not always aware of the biases we have. We see something or someone and our brain processes what we’re seeing using our biases. But there’s no flashing sign saying “Bias at work, a shortcut in your thinking. Be sure the conclusion fits the evidence.”

I would see an ear of corn in a grocery store and feel myself getting uncomfortable, remembering that blessed night with the bucket. Rational? If “rational” means “thoughtfully considered,” then no, it’s not rational. That’s how biases work.

Years ago I was interested in cars. Car repair. Automobile racing, etc. Somewhere, I have no clue where or when or how, I developed a bias against anything with four wheels manufactured by General Motors. Ford? OK. Chrysler? Less OK but better than GM. American Motors? (remember the Javelin? The Pacer?) OK (we had a Rambler in my childhood.)

I have never owned a Chevy or Pontiac or Cadillac or GMC. Haven’t even looked. Why? Well, I’m biased. It’s not rational. General Motors makes many fine products, rated approvingly by critics. I have a bias against their products.

Crazy, huh? Yes. It is. That’s how biases work and their short cut ways are crazy indeed.

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{child_related_content}{child_related_content_item}{child_related_content_style}Bio Box{/child_related_content_style}{child_related_content_title}Responses welcome{/child_related_content_title}{child_related_content_content}

The Spokesman invited me to send in a column or essay, something that’s not controversial, something that’s perhaps light or perhaps with a bit more substance. It’s a sort of journal, an invitation into the way I see the world and respond to what I see.

I plan to continue examining cognitive biases for a few essays, since they’re something we all have in common. I’m guessing now, but I’ll bet many of the biases we each have sit in our brain unexamined.

You may write me care of the Spokesman if I’ve raised something you’re wondering about.

{/child_related_content_content}{/child_related_content_item}{/child_related_content}

{child_tagline}

{/child_tagline}

{child_related_content}{child_related_content_item}{child_related_content_style}Bio Box{/child_related_content_style}{child_related_content_title}Responses welcome{/child_related_content_title}{child_related_content_content}

The Spokesman invited me to send in a column or essay, something that’s not controversial, something that’s perhaps light or perhaps with a bit more substance. It’s a sort of journal, an invitation into the way I see the world and respond to what I see.

I plan to continue examining cognitive biases for a few essays, since they’re something we all have in common. I’m guessing now, but I’ll bet many of the biases we each have sit in our brain unexamined.

You may write me care of the Spokesman if I’ve raised something you’re wondering about.

{/child_related_content_content}{/child_related_content_item}{/child_related_content}

{child_tagline}

{/child_tagline}

{child_related_content}{child_related_content_item}{child_related_content_style}Bio Box{/child_related_content_style}{child_related_content_title}Responses welcome{/child_related_content_title}{child_related_content_content}

The Spokesman invited me to send in a column or essay, something that’s not controversial, something that’s perhaps light or perhaps with a bit more substance. It’s a sort of journal, an invitation into the way I see the world and respond to what I see.

I plan to continue examining cognitive biases for a few essays, since they’re something we all have in common. I’m guessing now, but I’ll bet many of the biases we each have sit in our brain unexamined.

You may write me care of the Spokesman if I’ve raised something you’re wondering about.

{/child_related_content_content}{/child_related_content_item}{/child_related_content}

The Spokesman invited me to send in a column or essay, something that’s not controversial, something that’s perhaps light or perhaps with a bit more substance. It’s a sort of journal, an invitation into the way I see the world and respond to what I see.

I plan to continue examining cognitive biases for a few essays, since they’re something we all have in common. I’m guessing now, but I’ll bet many of the biases we each have sit in our brain unexamined.

You may write me care of the Spokesman if I’ve raised something you’re wondering about.