The emotionally charged world in which we live today seems like it is primed for Pragya Agarwal\u2019s book Sway: Unravelling unconscious bias. [1] Nearly every day there is some reference to racism, sexism, homophobia, or the discrimination of someone. The political rhetoric of the day is to point fingers and blame someone for another group\u2019s disadvantage while the media cannot wait for the next juicy tidbit that can be used to stir the pot of division among us all. Agarwal provides the read with a comprehensive thoroughly researched look into the origins of bias, and its effect on every aspect of daily life. The author\u2019s background as an acclaimed academic, and behavioral and data scientist is represented in this social science exploration into why we react to people who are different from us.<\/p>\r\n
Initially, this week\u2019s reading was difficult for me to get into. I felt like I was rereading Kahneman\u2019s Thinking Fast and Slow [2] or Lieberman and Long\u2019s The Molecule of More. [3] This review and the meticulous research of every aspect of the subject bogged me down. I found some of her examples to be lacking enough information to full support her point. For example, the two individuals photographed carrying goods after Hurricane Katrina. [4] The dark skin man is portrayed as a thief and the white woman as being resourceful. This in fact could be blatant bias, however she reveals her bias by not confirming that the man was not a thief.<\/p>\r\n
I found Agarwal\u2019s reference to Kurt Lewin\u2019s equation of behavior interesting. It is the person within their environment, together with their cognition that determine a particular behavior. [5] A person\u2019s environmental experience shapes their cognitive processing of similar situations and ultimately their behavior. I remember the first time I crossed one particular boarder into Germany after the fall of Communism. The guards at that boarder were extremely threatening more than once. I remember having an emotional and physical reaction on that first visit. It is our experiences within certain context that lead us to cognitive interpretations of whether it is a safe environment. If it is determined that there is a threat it can lead to a fear response of negative stereotypes and prejudices. [6] The author admits that \u201cunderstanding more about unconscious bias is not going to magically fix\u2026injustices.\u201d [7] So what will? Are to be stuck on a carrousel of blame and accusation?<\/p>\r\n
I cannot help but think that our fast-paced lives with narrow margins drive into a constant state of quick System 1 [8] responses that leaves us vulnerable to errors from unconscious bias. [9] It is when we live with wide margins that a person has time and space to process their world rationally, System 2. [10] It is in this place of rational thinking that one can learn to see people as \u201cthe fearfully and wonderfully made\u201d [11] divine creation that they are. It is this place of awareness of where each person comes from that one can begin to see the uniqueness, struggles and victories that makes up each life. It is when one sees the individual for all of who they are that it is possible to make room at the table of life to hear the voices of the marginalized. When a person has a secure place in the conversation, they no longer need to engage in conformity [12] because they are accepted as they are. [13] My hope is that I can be that self-differentiated leader who has a large table where there is always room for one more person who is not seen.
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[1] Pragya Agarwal, Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias, 2021.
[2] Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow, 1st pbk. ed (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013).
[3] Daniel Z Lieberman and Michael E Long, The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity-and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race, 2019.
[4] Agarwal, Sway, 39.
[5] Ibid., 32.
[6] Ibid., 46.
[7] Ibid., 404.
[8] Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow, 415.
[9] Agarwal, Sway, 27-42.
[10] Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow, 415.
[11] Richard Sasanow, The NIV Study Bible\/10th Anniversary Edition (Place of publication not identified: Zondervan, 1995), 925. Psalms 139:14.
[12] Agarwal, Sway, 34.
[13] Steven Bouma-Prediger and Brian J. Walsh, Beyond Homelessness: Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Pub, 2008), 59, 64.
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