{"id":5235,"date":"2015-09-22T06:59:04","date_gmt":"2015-09-22T10:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=5235"},"modified":"2015-09-22T07:15:01","modified_gmt":"2015-09-22T11:15:01","slug":"biased","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=5235","title":{"rendered":"biased?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"photo-1420177743490-15ee9ba8c78f\"<\/a>We are a contentious people. We disagree. We argue. Sometimes we fight… a lot.<\/strong> Why? Because we know we\u2019re right. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

I get it. There have been times in my own household \u2014 I\u2019m sorry to admit \u2014 when it\u2019s seemed a major, humongous decision between which one is best \u2014 because there’s only one<\/em>\u00a0right answer: sausage or pepperoni? (My poor veggie choice rarely garners another vote.)<\/em> The reality is, friends, we think there\u2019s only one answer too many times\u2026 and we make way too many mountains out of molehills.<\/p>\n

Part of the reason we get so stuck, I think \u2014 and then miss out on the beauty of turning disagreement into dialogue \u2014 is because we\u2019re unwilling to unravel our deeply embedded bias. We each have bias within us, and that bias skews our objectivity\u2026 whether we know it or not\u2026 acknowledge it or not\u2026 no matter the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cBias\u201d is defined as \u201cprejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, one may believe\u00a0Tom Brady\u2019s explanation of why he destroyed his cell phone when under investigation by the NFL\u00a0was completely logical, plausible, and full of good intentions. Others immediately pounced upon the need for stern prosecution.<\/p>\n

Politically, some watched the Republican debates, and instantaneously concluded that each<\/em> of the candidates is an honest,\u00a0upstanding, completely transparent man or woman. Others claimed the debates were pathetic \u2014 and nothing of merit was articulated by any or all.<\/p>\n

Think, too, of our immediate reactions\u00a0\u2014 openly hostile or sweetly tender \u2014 directed at Hillary, Bernie, or Trump… at Christians, Congress, Planned Parenthood, you-name-it.<\/p>\n

I submit that in each of the above, bias has typically skewed\u00a0the perspective\u2026 whether we know it or not. Hence, allow me one more, brief example (I will try to be sensitive)\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

America\u2019s favorite sport by far is the National Football League. When the playoffs begin, so do the parties \u2014 with even the non-sports fan often tuning in.\u00a0Last January, there was one game that grabbed my attention most (remember: this is about bias \u2014 not sports).<\/em> The Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers played a great game on a cold day up in Wisconsin. Dallas led most of the game but never by more than 8 points.<\/p>\n

With 9 minutes left, the Packers finally took the lead. Dallas would challenge once more. Back and forth after an intense drive, it appeared that the Cowboys\u2019 Dez Bryant made a miraculous, fourth down\u00a0catch and scored the potentially winning touchdown!<\/p>\n

But then\u2026 as written by a Sports Illustrated reporter:<\/p>\n

\u201cOn fourth down with 4:42 remaining, Bryant leapt to catch a pass from Tony Romo. On the way down, as he moved toward the end zone, the ball hit the ground. After review, the referees called it an incomplete pass.\u00a0<\/em>
\nNFL rules state the ground can cause an incomplete pass. It was ruled Bryant did not stretch out enough toward the endzone, therefore did not commit a \u2018football act,\u2019 and didn’t have control going to the ground.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The referees reversed their initial call. The home crowd went crazy. The Packers took over on offense and went on to win the game.<\/p>\n

From my very comfortable, couch-quarterback position, I adamantly disagreed with the call \u2014 and I soon found myself also in disagreement with multiple members of my family. They thought they were right! I thought I was right! But guess what? They<\/strong> are Packers\u2019 fans.<\/p>\n

There was\u2026 uh\u2026 one more thing\u2026<\/p>\n

Every football season I play a few, minimally-involved fantasy games. One requires a $10 entry fee, where\u00a0each week you pick a single football team to win their game, and you can\u2019t pick the same team twice. When your selection loses, you\u2019re out. Over 200 people play. At the time of that playoff game, I was still alive. Had the Cowboys won,<\/em> I was close to winning\u00a0the $2000 prize.\u2028<\/em><\/p>\n

Was I biased? You bet.
\nDid it skew my perspective of what may or may not be true? Of course.
\nAnd could I admit it at the time?<\/p>\n

No way.<\/p>\n

Bias obstructs truth. It impedes our dialogue, too.<\/p>\n

Respectfully\u2026
\nAR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are a contentious people. We disagree. We argue. Sometimes we fight… a lot. Why? Because we know we\u2019re right. \ud83d\ude42 I get it. There have been times in my own household \u2014 I\u2019m sorry to admit \u2014 when it\u2019s seemed a major, humongous decision between which one is best \u2014 because there’s only one\u00a0right … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “biased?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5235"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5247,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5235\/revisions\/5247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}