![](\"https:\/\/media.giphy.com\/media\/xUOwFT6LpVk23AArhS\/giphy.gif\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Pragya Agarwal brings her education and experience as a behavioral and data scientist to her deeply researched book, Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias<\/em>. Agarwal deftly unpacks the science of how the brain is responsible for the inclinations of human biases, in particular those that are unconscious and take place through System 1 thinking.[1]<\/a> She shares stories interwoven with her research as her canvas to paint a picture of how our biases inform our worldview, our communication, shape our decisions, and how we group ourselves. \u00a0Sway <\/em>disentangles research focused on implicit biases like race, gender, age and left-handedness.\u00a0 Although Agarwal\u2019s is intentional in centering her argument on unconscious bias, she challenges the reader to move beyond the blinders of bias. \u201cOnly when we can understand both our psychological adaptations and our modern frameworks can we begin to acknowledge and address our unconscious biases.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n Integrating Daniel Kahneman\u2019s Thinking, Fast and Slow <\/em>and Agarwal\u2019s Sway<\/em> is a no-brainer.\u00a0 Both authors seem to be working from a similar playbook in unpacking the ways biases shape our thinking and social constructs.\u00a0 The one bias that strikes me the most currently is the \u201crisk\/loss aversion\u201d. \u00a0They both reference this with examples of gambling[3]<\/a>.\u00a0 This led me to consider game theory\u2019s relevance to everyday decision making.\u00a0 In the movie, Crazy Rich Asians<\/em>, Rachel, a professor in Game Theory says to her class after a poker match, \u201che\u2019s not playing using logic or math, but using his psychology. Our brains so hate the idea of losing something valuable to us that we abandon all rational thought and make some really poor decisions. So Curtis wasn\u2019t playing to win\u2014he was playing not to lose.\u201d[4]<\/a> It seems that is how humans live life. Decisions are made as though one is playing not to lose ; the game of life reveals risks to be avoided.\u00a0 Even as we watch the war Putin started in Ukraine we can see the dynamics of game theory decisions occurring.\u00a0 Jason Pack writes an thought provoking article offering a strategic Poker move for the West in response to Putin\u2019s \u201cHigh Raised Stakes\u201d.[5]<\/a>\u00a0 It raises questions of what system of thinking is enacted both for Putin and the rest of the world?\u00a0 How much loss\/risk are other countries willing to \u201cbet\u201d? How feasible is it for leaders around the globe engage Putin with self-differentiated engagement?<\/p>\n I am preparing to enter into a new community as their pastor.\u00a0 I have begun \u201cgame planning\u201d for the few issues I am aware that will be waiting for me.\u00a0 But the truth is I need to be acutely aware that my very presence is filled with the promise of change and risk for them. They are claiming they are ready to move in a new direction. But Argawal\u2019s words, \u201cit is simpler and more comfortable to stick with the familiar situation and group membership, rather than question the status quo, which feels risky\u201d[6]<\/a> remind me of the risk\/loss avoidance bias that will be present on the game table.\u00a0 It is an imperative for me to invite the congregation to become cognitively aware of their biases for healthy dialogue and self-differentiation to be practiced. Agarwal continues, \u201cPeople are more likely to stick with what they know, and they are more reluctant to take a stand because switching doesn\u2019t activate the reward pathway. They subconsciously believe and understand that there is more emotional cost involved switching.\u201d[7]<\/a> This challenges me to recognize my own risk\/loss bias and to employ a game theory approach that is intentionally cooperative game play; we play knowing we are striving for the same win together.\u00a0 The game of life is a game of risk, but played together we can bust out of the escape room before time runs out.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Agarwal, Pragya. 2020. Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias<\/em>. London\u202f; New York: Bloomsbury Sigma. Page 29.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a>\u00a0 Ibid. Page 66.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> \u00a0Ibid. Page 77-78.\u00a0 Kahneman, Daniel. 2013. Thinking, Fast and Slow<\/em>. 1st edition. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.Page 283-284 . \u00a0\u00a0Friedman, Edwin H., and Peter Steinke. 2017. A Failure of Nerve, Revised Edition: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix<\/em>. 10th Anniversary edition. New York: Church Publishing.\u00a0Even Friedman talks about risk aversion in the context of an anxious system<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Chu, Jon M., Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, and Gemma Chan. 2018. Crazy rich Asians.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> https:\/\/newlinesmag.com\/argument\/why-putin-is-playing-poker-not-chess\/<\/p>\n