It's The Carpenters, to save you wondering. Yes, Karen Carpenter had a wonderful voice, no I didn't like the songs. It's an oblique reference to a topic that arose in this evening's Skype Sunday. I admit to zoning out here and there, but one thing that reeled me in was the discussion of bias. My own bias is that opinions are a good thing. Inevitably, your bias is influenced by your upbringing, lifestyle, social status and many other things and your opinions derive therefrom. However, whilst always acknowledging my bias, my opinions can change a great deal. For me, this is because opinions depend on information and evolving circumstances. I cannot understand why they would not. Retaining the same opinion, given new, pertinent information, is idiotic. That also is my opinion. I have a declared bias against wilful ignorance.
Adesola and Helen joined us for the second half of the Skype session. This was a new arrangement, to me anyway. There was a lot of talk about research and Adesola questioned the relationship between bias and control. For me it works thus; first acknowledge your bias, then accept it will influence how you react to information, however do not let it stifle the responses of others. Do not consciously let your bias control the outcome of your research. Unconscious bias? Who knows? I'll do my best!
We also touched on the current global pandemic and what we can do to assuage the isolation of many of us trapped at home. Apart from the usual instability of freelancers, this illness has wiped out work for many of us, or is about to. Having recourse to an online study community will at least keep our minds occupied. The suggestion was to have more informal Skype sessions. I will certainly look forward to this, as guilt will force me to do my bit and keep me on my toes.
So, with my MORE form put to bed, I think, next stop essays. There are always drawers to sort out, so I can always find a distraction, but I'm determined not to leave it to the last minute. Again. Pray for me, Karen!
Hi Rhoda,
ReplyDeleteI agree on you on how bias influences the way we react to information,and I believe that nobody actually can control how our own bias impacts on our ideas and opinions. Does this basically mean that bias is something we cant leave out lets say from writing an essay? For me its hard to write and leave my experiences and bias out, thinking now that this actually leads to the development of more and more ideas when I do so.