Good Bias
…Can a positive tilt be contagious?
Those of us who have been fortunate enough to travel overseas, to experience many local cultures, to work with colleagues from a variety of ethnicities, and to return home satisfied by work-related accomplishments, knowing more about the inhabitants of our world, can’t help but be biased, biased in favor of our differences, of the vast variety of very lovely people in every corner of the planet.
An anecdote
A few years ago I paid a visit to a botanical garden in Shanghai, China. It was late afternoon and the sun was setting as I exited the garden looking for a taxi to return me to my hotel. There were none by the garden exit were I had seen some earlier. So I walked to a nearby intersection where there was much multi-lane traffic including taxis. Several appeared to have no passengers, but my attempts at hailing them failed repeatedly. Then noting this American’s frustration, a young woman, a college student, came to the rescue. She pulled out her trusty cell phone, opened an app, and ordered a taxi for me. Not only that, but she paid the fare in advance through the app and waited with me for the taxi’s arrival. (Needless to say, I reimbursed her electronically on my return home.) While waiting, now in the dark and chill of dusk, we chatted about many topics including her studies, my own ethnicity, and what America is really like. Of course, the caveat that prevents generalization is that she spoke enough English to make our interaction and my rescue easier. (My extremely limited Chinese vocabulary along with my copy of a language helper booklet for tourists might have succeeded, but with much more difficulty.) Nevertheless, recalling such a positive experience reinforces my bias toward the value of multicultural experiences for everyone.
Spreading the word
I belong to a lucky minority. My question is ‘How do we impart to our stay-at-home neighbors even a small sense of my experience?’ There are accurate characterizations of many peoples and cultures in documentaries and travelogues that frequently appear on public television. Unfortunately, that good bias leads to confirmation bias in that viewers of such offerings tend to be those same folks who are already well-versed in and open to the underlying multicultural message.
Internet search engines can, of course, fill screens with as wide and as deep a coverage of the peoples across the globe as one might want.
What could possibly motivate a typical Internet surfer to initiate such a search and do so with a sincere interest in enjoying an immersive learning experience?
Can a dry factual docuseries be spiced up? Adding tear-jerking or heart throbbing or adrenaline-boosting storylines might attract some pliable demographics but less dramatic alternatives would be preferable. Exercising poetic license to make the shows more fascinating would require distortions of reality and defeat our purpose, that being to expose who the real people are whom we have never met and what their daily lives and environs are like.
Free stuff and prizes motivate some to participate in activities in which they otherwise would not. However, such inducements would somehow sully the intended educational seriousness that one would want such presentations to deliver. Then what?
Ubiquitous social media channels are certainly frequented much more than public television programing. What “hook” could grab the attention of the casual Instagram or TikTok or X user that, despite all other distractions, gets them to click on a “Learn About Other Cultures” link? And once clicked, what would have the sticktoitiveness to avoid just a momentary view of the landing page before jumping away?
The last resort
Likely, the only potentially effective course would be to attempt to duplicate the travelers’ experiences locally by bringing real people from real distant places to the yet-to-be-exposed. Of course, they are already here. Immigrants from all regions come to this country for an opportunity for a better life. After periods of adjustment to their new life, and discovering how many here know little or nothing of their origins, they may be amenable to participating in some kind of conclaves (with refreshments and visual presentations that are short enough to avoid the eyes-glazed-over stage). The social aspect could even result in one-on-one interactions that may well result in invitations to connect outside of such gatherings.
Let’s be realistic. Our best idea would attract only a small fraction of our fellow citizens and would require funding. Well, if it’s a good idea, there are private and government programs to which one may apply for a small grant. And I am a firm believer in nucleation and growth. Just as when growing large beautifully faceted crystals from the tiniest seed in a solution of the raw ingredients, a contagion of multicultural awareness could grow from the small nucleus we envision.
We could concern ourselves with something else
Why should we care? I would claim that a good bias has a way of overpowering negative biases. Those negatives that underly persistent divisions due primarily to misunderstandings and fears of phantom threats. Personal experience trumps preconceptions every time. We have all seen how a warm and welcoming reception greets an individual despite that person’s affiliation with an “other” group. The obvious challenge is mapping that one-to-one comfort onto the sentiments of the many-to-many.
One can only hope.
Nota Bene: Others may ruminate differently. But be warned: In my case, seeing or hearing something quite trivial -- a saying, a store clerk’s mannerisms, or bad grammar on a food product’s label – triggers a stream-of-consciousness extrapolation toward grander notions and generalizations. That is what often happens in these posts.
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed here are my own at the time of writing with no expectation that they will hold beyond my next review of this article. Opinions are like a river, winding hither and yon, encountering obstacles and rapids, and suffering turbulent mixing of silts from its depths and detritus from its banks. But just as a river has its clear headwaters and a fertile delta, so do opinions, notwithstanding any intervening missteps and uncertainties.
Reminder: You can visit the Cycloid Fathom Technical Publishing website at cycloid-fathom.com and the gallery at cycloid-fathom.com/gallery.
Forthcoming posts (unless life intervenes)
An Open Message to Voters, Go Vote
…after navigating the information landscape
Sched 1/8/2024
U-turns
…..Enlightenment or Hypocrisy
Sched 1/15/2024
Unnecessary Migration, Tomorrow?
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but imagine what our world would be like, if ever.
Sched 1/22/2024
What did you say!?
..…it’s English, but….
Sched 1/29/2024
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….pointless queries leading nowhere
Sched 2/5/2024
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Sched 2/12/2024
This area is beautiful
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Sched 2/19/2024
