Sunday, July 30, 2017

What exactly is implicit / unconscious bias?

The following video is helpful, I'll follow it with some bullet points:


1. Our brain processes so much information, that it creates categories of people for making quick judgments. 

2. These judgments are based on our experiences, including stereotype portrayals we've seen in the media. So these judgments are often not accurate.

3. We all do this, no-one is exempt.

4. This affects who people hire to work with. Which means it effects hiring in churches and christian organisations.

5. Unconscious bias leads to micro-behaviours.

6. Following on from my Charlie Gard post, I believe that unconscious bias has been at play in how some people have reacted to the parent's own appraisal of Charlie's condition. In a different way, implicit bias was at play in the sad Madeleine MacCann story. In both cases, there is a general difference of opinion between working class and middle class people. Swap the parents for both sad stories, and you would have found very different public responses.