Toxic Biases
Overcoming Our Biases
The online site Dictionary.com defines bias as an “Inclination or prejudice for or against one person or group, especially in a way considered to be unfair.”
Spontaneous is defined as “Performed or occurring as a result of a sudden impulse or inclination and without premeditation or external stimulus”
Automatic means “Done or occurring spontaneously, without conscious thought or attention.”
You won’t find the phrase Spontaneous Automatic Biases (SAB) anywhere else because I coined it myself. Years of living and experiencing the school of life, both personally and professionally as a physician, have left me convinced that no one is immune to SAB. We have all been subjected to bias, and just as likely have subjected others to its harmful effects.
How many of us harbor “Inclination or prejudice for or against one person or group, especially in a way considered to be unfair.” What kind of biases do you and I have towards ourselves, and others?
I call it SAB because biased opinions, decisions, words, or behaviors can come at us from others, or from us to others instantaneously, and unexpectedly much like a predator suddenly attacking its prey. We see SAB everywhere. It’s there when we opine about others and when others form opinions about us based on looks, height, color, wealth, profession, culture, or race instead of skills, good character and strong moral stands. You see it at work between lords and peasants, leaders and those they lead, step- families and in-laws, and amongst friends and strangers.
Since setting foot in America, and for many years as a resident and a practicing physician, I heard and experienced enough stories that meet and exceed the criteria of Spontaneous Automatic Biases. Some of those included statements like “Africans are lazy” and “ Do people there live on trees.” Other stories included patients who declined medical care because a physician or a nurse wasn’t the right race, and a white patient in Minnesota who refused to let a brilliant white South African surgeon who practiced in a prestigious surgical group in the Twin Cities remove his diseased gallbladder.
“He has a foreign accent. I don’t want him to do my surgery,” said the patient to a white American surgeon in the same Minnesota practice where I was doing a surgical rotation as a resident. To his credit, the white American surgeon refused to do the gallbladder surgery and told the patient the inappropriateness of what he said.
“He is an excellent surgeon who is well educated. You need to go back to him for your surgery.”
Do you have deeply hidden biases in your heart that shape your opinions, words, and behaviors? Do we have spontaneous automatic biases that wound those around us?
I remember when I first came to America, I had a culturally biased view about western women. They were often portrayed in the American movies that we all watched overseas, the magazines we read, and in the traditional society that I was nurtured in, as generally wild and of loose moral standards. My loving dad’s strongest advice to me as I embarked on my journey to America was “Women in America will knock on your door. When a woman in America knocks on your door don’t open it. Let your school and studies be the most important thing in your life.”
Apparently, Hollywood and the media has succeeded in presenting to the whole world its version of womanhood depicting and sadly exploiting all that is sensual and sexual about American and Western women. Thus, it has created a biased view among many people from strict and traditional societies, namely that women are wild, easy, or loose. Sadly, I believe a lot of Hollywood’s biased rendition of women has been believed, copied, and duplicated by young children, teenagers, and adults thus shaping much of society’s norms, beliefs, and behaviors.
As for me, coming from a traditional upbringing to America, the heavy Hollywood influence on the culture has solidified such biased thinking and beliefs. It took me time and God’s help and grace to overcome these biases and see what is right and true in God’s view. What about you? Do biases affect your opinions, view of life, words, and action? And how can we overcome our Spontaneous Automatic Biases?
Until next time, I’ll reflect on this Bible verse that reminds me of God’s view on what really matters.
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7
Views expressed here are only of the author, and do not represent the views of any other organization or entity. Information in this blog are not meant to be medical advice. Please see your medical provider or psychologist for any of your medical or psychological concerns.