{"id":28332,"date":"2022-03-09T15:00:50","date_gmt":"2022-03-09T23:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=28332"},"modified":"2022-03-05T15:05:53","modified_gmt":"2022-03-05T23:05:53","slug":"what-is-your-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/what-is-your-name\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Your Name?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Pragya Agarwal\u2019s <em>Sway<\/em> provides a comprehensive understanding of the various biases we each have, how we utilize them in our interactions with others, and offers suggestions for how to combat those that result in negative outcomes for our self or others. Agarwal, a behavioral and data scientist, not only provides a research-based analysis of biases but also provides anecdotes throughout from her experiences living in India and the UK. Rooted in the social sciences, <em>Sway<\/em> offers significant contributions to how we understand our individual and societal contexts and how our processing of the world around us develops biases towards others. Simply from a syntopical reading and analysis of this book, I can imagine how valuable it will be in \u2018de-bias\u2019 conversations and trainings across all sectors.<\/p>\n<p>I found myself connecting directly to much of what Agarwal wrote, both in personal experiences as well as the connections with the other readings we have had throughout this program. In regards to the other readings, here are the main similarities and differences I saw:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Kahneman\u2019s System 1 &amp; 2 Thinking: Agarwal directly references Kahneman as she discusses the gut instinct and our rapid responses to people and situations.<a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Chivers &amp; Chivers: Interesting to compare the views of behavioral and data biases that can emerge. While Chivers\u2019 more focus on statistical biases, there is crossover in terms of the types of biases and how those impact our decision making, worldview, and interactions with others.<\/li>\n<li>Steele: Agarwal\u2019s anecdotes specifically focused on the questions or biases she has faced living in the UK while having origins in India made me question more of the fuel behind segregation in the US and inconsistencies of social capital.<a href=\"#_ftn2\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Lieberman: It was interesting to contrast these two and their views on the unknown in relationship to the functioning of our brains. While Lieberman discusses that the promise of the unknown can initiate dopamine hits, Agarwal points out that a bias and stereotype can be formed from the unknown due to fear or threat.<a href=\"#_ftn3\" name=\"_ftnref3\">[3]<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Busch: For me, Agarwal\u2019s discussion of biases produced through technological connection and dependence even more reinforces Busch\u2019s emphasis on the importance of disconnection, being in nature, and embracing solitude.<a href=\"#_ftn4\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[4]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>One personal connection I made to this weeks\u2019 reading revolve around Agarwal\u2019s statement of \u201cmy reaction was to water down my ethnicity and avoid any reference to it.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn5\" name=\"_ftnref5\">[5]<\/a> Several years ago I had an employee who was a Korean American and during the interview process, she offered for me and the others on the hiring committee to call her \u201cSarah\u201d as it was easier to pronounce than her given name. I was startled by her comment and instead asked her to clarify which name she prefers to go by and from there ensured I was pronouncing her name correctly. We worked together for several years, and I had to often encourage her not to give others the \u2018out\u2019 of calling her Sarah when that simply was not her name. It may seem an insignificant story on the surface, but it shaped several things for both of us:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Allowed us to practice (and sometimes fumble through) cross-cultural communication.<\/li>\n<li>Reinforced that dignity often begins with a name. How many times in scripture do we see such emphasis and importance on a name or name change?<\/li>\n<li>Developed a foundation of understanding that, as Walker would encourage, leading out of who you are needs to encompass the whole of who you are.<\/li>\n<li>Affirmed that while our ethnic heritages are different, hers is not subordinate to mine simply because I am a Caucasian in an authority role.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A year ago, this former employee reached out to me to ask if she could share this same story in a book she was working on. She wrote to me that it had been the first time since her family came to the United States that someone reinforced human value in her by insisting on using (and pronouncing!) her given name correctly, and that it empowered her to discontinue offering for others to call her Sarah in the future.<\/p>\n<p>Reading through the various biases Agarwal describes in this work, it encourages me to continue the incorporation of these topics into my trainings and conversations centered on cross-cultural competencies. Even as I think of my NPO, I am even more prompted to determine the best modes and timing to embed assessment and training on unconscious biases into the curriculum I am developing.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not point out that I also strongly resonate with the fact that \u201cleft-handedness has suffered from an unfavorable perception for a long time.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn6\" name=\"_ftnref6\">[6]<\/a> <em>And all my fellow left-handers say amen!<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> Agarwal, 29.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref2\" name=\"_ftn2\">[2]<\/a> Steele, 103.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref3\" name=\"_ftn3\">[3]<\/a> Agarwal, 119.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref4\" name=\"_ftn4\">[4]<\/a> Ibid., 21.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref5\" name=\"_ftn5\">[5]<\/a> Ibid., 14.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref6\" name=\"_ftn6\">[6]<\/a> Ibid., 19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pragya Agarwal\u2019s Sway provides a comprehensive understanding of the various biases we each have, how we utilize them in our interactions with others, and offers suggestions for how to combat those that result in negative outcomes for our self or others. Agarwal, a behavioral and data scientist, not only provides a research-based analysis of biases [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2244,2069,2004,2245,2246],"class_list":["post-28332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-agarwal","tag-bias","tag-lgp11","tag-sway","tag-unconscious-bias","cohort-lgp11"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28332"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28333,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28332\/revisions\/28333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}