The illusion of "not being biased"

[mrhnau]

I often hear the phase "you are being biased", and find it rather aggrevating. Who on Earth is not biased about absolutely everything? Even for novel topics, your past experiences and opinions establish the way you perceive and process novel topics. I postulate that it is impossible to purge bias from your system. Even if your opinions are modified, those conclusions and the process of drawing those conclusions are stemmed in your personaly history, mental faculties, etc..

Is "bias" simply an easy way to diffuse someones conclusions/opions you simply don't like? Do you think bias is something that can ever be removed or reduced?

 

[Xue Sheng]

I do agree we all have preconceived ideas or beliefs going into just about everything. However I also believe those ideas or beliefs can be changed and I think it is possible to look at a situation in an unbiased manner. But it is not easy; emotion must be removed form the equation in order to do that.

However I do feel that many throw around the terminology "Your Bias" way to often in order to not have to actually address or (god forbid) except an alternate view, idea or belief that threatens their preconceived views, ideas or beliefs.

 

[OUMoose]

I often hear the phase "you are being biased", and find it rather aggrevating. Who on Earth is not biased about absolutely everything? Even for novel topics, your past experiences and opinions establish the way you perceive and process novel topics. I postulate that it is impossible to purge bias from your system. Even if your opinions are modified, those conclusions and the process of drawing those conclusions are stemmed in your personaly history, mental faculties, etc..

Is "bias" simply an easy way to diffuse someones conclusions/opions you simply don't like? Do you think bias is something that can ever be removed or reduced?

There are subjects where bias doesn't play into the outcome. Take arithmatic. 2 + 2 = 4 (I'm not talking quantum mechanics nor non-euclidian mathmatics here, just plain, vanilla addition/subtraction). There is no bias in that conclusion.

My counter-postulate is that at life's most fundamental levels, bias is non-existant. As levels of complexity increase toward infinity, so does the inherent bias in the conclusion from the observer's standpoint.

 

[heretic888]

Is "bias" simply an easy way to diffuse someones conclusions/opions you simply don't like?

Unless one is referring to statistical procedures, then yes.

In essence, accusing someone of being "biased" is simply an a priori way of disarming an opponent's arguments without going through the a posteriori work of actually mulling over their arguments for yourself.

For specifics on how this has actually manifested, please see my latter posts on the "Jesus Camp" thread, especially the description of Carol Gilligan's "feminist critique" of Lawrence Kohlberg.

Laterz.

 

[bushidomartialarts]

everyone has bias, that's true.

but intelligent, responsible people are aware of their bias and take that into account.

i know my hot buttons, so if i'm doing something important that involves one of them, i take extra care to be sure i'm in the right, or i bounce the idea off someone i know is impartial about that topic.

in discussions and forums, 'you are being biased' generally means something along the lines of 'dude, i think you're missing an important point because you don't want to see it'.

 

[Andrew Green]

Yes, we are all biased. But some people can recognize that bias and are capable of trying to look at things from both sides. Other people are completely incappable of seeing things from any perspeective but there own.

 

[TonyMac]

Didn't stalin coin the phrase "The illusion of diversity"? Or was it Goebbels?

 

[bushidomartialarts]

or what our election promises...the "illusion of choice"

 

[lenatoi]

I agree that bias is never completely overlooked in any argument. If that were the case, there would be no argument. likewise, having a bias does not mean not being able to see other points of view necisarily, but simply that you have an opinion. and if you didn't have an opinion about somathing, there would be no conversation. With the exception of this qute from joe vs. the volcano "I have no answer to that"

 

[airdawg]

Now, if I find someone with a load of drugs, and they have similarities to other people who have been arresed for drugs, I'm profileing.

 

[airdawg]

How do you track a bear? You look for tracks and signs consistant with tracks and signs left by bears. Politicians and Litigators will never get the point, I fear.

 

[lenatoi]

I know. That is rediculous. If someone is not a prowler, but they are sneaking arround wearing all black, carrying a crow bar, you are being prejudice when you ask them what they're doing

 

[airdawg]

For the most part. It all depends on what lawyer they can afford. What a complement to the system

 

[heretic888]

Yes, we are all biased. But some people can recognize that bias and are capable of trying to look at things from both sides. Other people are completely incappable of seeing things from any perspeective but there own.

*sigh*

The point is that the entire issue of "bias" is a smokescreen.

"Bias" is an ad hominem. It boils down to digging up dirt about the personal characteristics and history of one's opponent, as opposed to actually looking over the arguments he or she presents. The validity of a position comes down to the validity of the arguments behind it, not the personal information of an individual making the claims.

What most people haven't figured out yet is that bias has no real correlation with accuracy. You can be extremely biased, but still be completely right about something.

In my opinion, it's just silly mud-slinging in a pseudo-intellectual guise.

Laterz.

 

[airdawg]

Right on! Right on!

 

[airdawg]

I read a book, that stated the only educated answer is the true answer. Exp. I know about karate. ask me something and I'll give you an educated answer. If one of my friends, who, lets say is a diesel mechanic, asks me to tell him what I think of a new engine that just hit the market. My answer is and has been, nothing. If you don't know, you don't know.

always tell the truth, that way you don't have anything to remember.

 

[Kacey]

always tell the truth, that way you don't have anything to remember.

Very true. :asian:

 

[lenatoi]

Back to the original question, "Do you think bias is something that can ever be removed or reduced?"
I say yes. For example, If you have an experiment that you want to use to prove a point, your bias will lie with the success of said experiment. You can, however, create what is called a double blide situation. in this scenario, neither the experimentor nor the subject knows what answers will lead to the sucsess or the failure of the experiment.
However, If you are strickly speaking of arguments, Then I say No. You can change someones opinion about something, but there will always be a "bias"