CW: Police violence
The idea of implicit bias is exceptionally significant in the modern era. Split-second decisions like the ones we make while taking the tests are more common than we realize. Furthermore, subtle biases against groups of people, sometimes especially when we aren't aware of them, can influence everything we do. The most obvious example of instant decision making being an issue is in the case of police. The current law in regards to guilt in cases of police violence considers whether the officer's actions were justified in the split second where they decide to use violence. Most offending officers (MURDERERS) go free because their lawyers argue that in the split second it was "reasonable" for them to take the actions they took. While this law is used to allow killers to go free, and in my opinion should be abolished, for now it's on the books. While this is the case, the choices we make in the moment have paramount importance. If an officer has an implicit bias against POC, they are more likely to decide in a split second to resort to violence. When it comes to our implicit bias beyond split-second choices, being unaware of how we value others has dangerous repercussions. For example, when designing products, if an engineer is biased against a group, even slightly, those biases can creep into their work. Many important safety equipment is designed specifically for the "average" human being. However, if the individuals that set the "average" have biases, they can inform this model in dangerous ways. The crash test dummy most used throughout history, for example, is based off the body of a 5'10 male. Based off these tests, safety equipment is designed to help people with this body type. Those who have significant differences, such as lower height, breasts, or long hair, are not accounted for, and thus put at higher risk. This is not an intentional design decision, but one made out of negligence and implicit bias towards men.
A lot of my artist/activist practice revolves around education. Not just statistics, but sharing deeper understanding of struggle through storytelling. To this point, art is an important part of retraining our brains against bias. It takes a lot of work to clear up a blind spot, but it is possible. However, to combat our implicit biases, we need to understand they exist and why it's so crucial that we change them. Storytelling can do this by allowing an audience to empathize with someone they may not have had the chance to hear candidly.
Npr story re: the laws around policing: "Mr. Graham and the Reasonable Man" from "More Perfect" https://www.npr.org/podcasts/481105292/more-perfect
The idea of implicit bias is exceptionally significant in the modern era. Split-second decisions like the ones we make while taking the tests are more common than we realize. Furthermore, subtle biases against groups of people, sometimes especially when we aren't aware of them, can influence everything we do. The most obvious example of instant decision making being an issue is in the case of police. The current law in regards to guilt in cases of police violence considers whether the officer's actions were justified in the split second where they decide to use violence. Most offending officers (MURDERERS) go free because their lawyers argue that in the split second it was "reasonable" for them to take the actions they took. While this law is used to allow killers to go free, and in my opinion should be abolished, for now it's on the books. While this is the case, the choices we make in the moment have paramount importance. If an officer has an implicit bias against POC, they are more likely to decide in a split second to resort to violence. When it comes to our implicit bias beyond split-second choices, being unaware of how we value others has dangerous repercussions. For example, when designing products, if an engineer is biased against a group, even slightly, those biases can creep into their work. Many important safety equipment is designed specifically for the "average" human being. However, if the individuals that set the "average" have biases, they can inform this model in dangerous ways. The crash test dummy most used throughout history, for example, is based off the body of a 5'10 male. Based off these tests, safety equipment is designed to help people with this body type. Those who have significant differences, such as lower height, breasts, or long hair, are not accounted for, and thus put at higher risk. This is not an intentional design decision, but one made out of negligence and implicit bias towards men.
A lot of my artist/activist practice revolves around education. Not just statistics, but sharing deeper understanding of struggle through storytelling. To this point, art is an important part of retraining our brains against bias. It takes a lot of work to clear up a blind spot, but it is possible. However, to combat our implicit biases, we need to understand they exist and why it's so crucial that we change them. Storytelling can do this by allowing an audience to empathize with someone they may not have had the chance to hear candidly.
Npr story re: the laws around policing: "Mr. Graham and the Reasonable Man" from "More Perfect" https://www.npr.org/podcasts/481105292/more-perfect
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