By Alden Roosevelt 13-Year-Old Reporter
“The unexamined life is not worth living”- Socrates
BIAS (n) – to give a settled and often prejudiced outlook on a subject.
PARADIGM SHIFT (n) – changing ones outlook on a model, pattern, or system.
I would like to start the first article I’m writing in my teenage years by thanking my good friend and mentor George Capsis for allowing me to write creatively and express my feelings in WestView News for almost a whole year.
During the last month or so I have been thinking about a funny little word called bias. In particular, I’ve been focusing on some of mine. I started thinking about the subject when my aunt told me I was biased about children being hit in schools as a disciplinary measure.
The difference between having an educated opinion versus a bias is maintaining flexibility of thought. Maybe I am biased, being a child, against the 19 states in which it is legal to physically beat children in schools. I wonder if someone could say anything that would convince me that being hit in school is a positive experience for a child.
I’ve also begun considering what else I might be biased about, and why. Perhaps I’ve thought better of dogs than cats because I’ve grown up with dogs. Or maybe I was biased against mushrooms because I had a bad experience with them at my old school where they served swollen slimy specimens several times a week. I decided to face that bias recently because I’d started cooking. I challenged myself to cook with mushrooms. (I sautéed them in red wine and garlic, then pureed them for a pasta sauce.)
“The unexamined life is not worth living”- Socrates
I realize that we all have our biases based on our experiences, and sometimes our upbringing. Despite my bias, I gave mushrooms a chance again and loved them. Maybe I favor them now because I am the one who cooked them, or maybe because they were pureed. (Does that make me biased?) And I recently bought a sweatshirt with a cat on it.
I think we should all make an effort to recognize our biases, find their sources, and try our hardest to overcome them—try to break out of our personal algorithms. I encourage you readers to taste a food you think you don’t like. Listen to a radio station that reflects differing views from yours. Read a book by an author you deplore. Get to know a cat. Get out there and have a civil conversation with a person you disagree with, without getting angry. Let me know how it goes.
It has been a true joy writing this article. Thank you and have a great month.
This was so well written! The humor and true reflections are so wonderful and mind expanding. Well done Alden!!
Great article. This was especially fun to read because I learn neurobiology online and took a psychology class over the summer. Also this is a pressing issue in the world today.
Thoughtfully written! We start with exploring our personal preference biases, but then expanding them to ‘people we disagree with’ or have ideas about – an open conversation ‘without getting angry’ – that is a powerful start and lays the seeds for so much more hope and community in our society. thank you !
What a thoughtful and well considered article you’ve written. The willingness to share your perspective lends itself towards opening up a dialog that could encourage it’s readers to explore their own concepts of bias and understanding. Sometimes what we seek isn’t so impartial as we’d like to believe.
Inspiring and well constructed piece. We should all reflect more on why we have certain biases and have the courage to go beyond those ‘dislikes’ or fixed ideas and maybe think about why we had them in the first place.
Alden, thank you, thank you very much for your article. It’s very need and deep thoughts ! Very proud of you to share with us, with the world, your experience, your “scars”. We all can learn something, list I did ! Looking forward to read MORE 👍🏻
I loved reading your article and learned a good lesson with your reflections. I learned that questioning our habits, taste and beliefs is key to growing wiser and it is essential for living a fuller life. Thank you so much for writing and sharing your experiences.
Alden. You have made me think about my biases. I discussed your article at the dinner table tonight. You said a lot in this short article. Keep on reporting!
What thought provoking piece! So important to recognize our own biases, and the key to being an impartial and objective journalist – something that is much needed in these times. Well done Alden, can’t wait to read the next piece.