I’m Back

It’s been a while since I’ve written an article for this blog. I took a brief break from writing to gather my thoughts and reframe my message. Covid19 has caused many people to rethink a few things but as I observe our Country coming back to action, I am saddened to see how little attention, so many of our fellow citizens, have actually paid to the warnings of medical professionals. As I watch the world around me, I see an all out goat rodeo of craziness. Over 100,000 people have died. Yes, that’s only .03% of the US population, but each one of those people was a human being. Over the years that we were involved in Vietnam, more than 55,000 US soldiers were killed and we hold that war to be a tragedy for our Country. Those who have died of Covid19, deserve more respect than just returning to business as usual. For their lives to not have been lost in vain, we must have learned something from their experience.

And then, as if Covid was not enough, we now have monumental racial tensions in our Country, once again! These serious racial problems arise periodically. There is a connection between the Covid19 situation and the racial problems we face. Both are fueled by our biases. How we approach any crisis, if we are not mindful in our approach, will be greatly affected by our biases! What is a bias? Consider this definition from Wikipedia. Bias is disproportionate weight in favor of or against an idea or thing, usually in a way that is closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individual, a group, or a belief. In science and engineering, a bias is a systematic error. How anyone of us responded to Covid19 was most likely influenced by our biases. That bias might have been a lack of trust in science or government or that bias might have been an irrational fear of a disease that was new to us all. Or we may have been influenced by one or more of dozens of other biases. If we do not check our biases as we make decisions, we run the risk of making decisions that are not always in our own best interest. Now, if we look at the current racial strife, we can apply the same definition of bias. Once again, if we let our biases go unchecked, we run a serious risk of making decisions that are not only in opposition to our own best interests but we run the risk of behaving with outright prejudice!

I have learned. I have changed. There is a Conservation-Change Paradox: We undergo changes in order to conserve that which we value most! I change my diet and how I engage with others to conserve my health. I change jobs to conserve my pursuit of wealth. I learn (change my knowledge and understanding) to conserve my mental function. What do you value most that would cause you to change something? Do you value your health and the health of your loved ones enough to change how you interact with your world? In order to change we must challenge our own biases. In order to grow and learn, we must change. Our biases prevent growth, learning, and development. We must challenge every one of our biases. In order to do that, you must first admit you are biased. Next you must identify those biases. And finally, you must commit to making the changes required. I challenge every reader to take a few minutes and sit down and write down the biases you know you have. Then, ask others what they see as biases that you have. Once you really know, how can you not do what will help you grow?