2-1 Short Answers - Connor Sculthorpe

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IDS-100-H7690 / 22EW3 2-1 Short Answer Connor Sculthorpe Reflection on Bias My biggest experience with bias happened during the 2001-2013 period with the Global War on Terror (GWOT) conducted by the United States. Most of the people I was around all had high approval of the war, including a Vietnam war veteran who himself disapproved of the war he was drafted into but still approved of the GWOT. Later I would be entirely opposed to the GWOT, but first, I should establish what kinds of bias are at play. Identifying Bias It is most important note that this situation, and indeed most situations in life, are rarely just one kind of bias. Frequently it is the case that multiple kinds of bias are at play, and sometimes unpacking what biases are at play on your own can take quite a long time. So, in the case of the GWOT, the first and largest factor is Ingroup Bias as my immediate surroundings of many political affiliations, including an anti-war veteran, were all part of this ingroup. Confirmation Bias also largely comes into play, as someone who lives in the aggressor country, the wars simply have to be justified by the government and its agencies or the nation will lose its will to fight and the war will be lost. Interestingly, this also leads into Communal Bias, as the people who are in this ingroup (myself included) are rarely presented with information that challenges the views of the wars and came to accept it unchallenged. It is worth noting that these three biases play into their own feedback loop that causes the group to become insular, very similar to an Information Silo.

IDS-100-H7690 / 22EW3 2-1 Short Answer Connor Sculthorpe The Necessary Awareness of Bias It is not controversial to claim that I was far from the only one who considered the GWOT to be “justified”, particularly in the early years of the wars. This collection of bias, however, is extremely dangerous. To be incredibly blunt, this bias lead to untold death and destruction the world over. Of the eight or so friends and acquaintances from Highschool, four of them died overseas, and one took his own life not long after coming home. While this is what entirely broke my views on the war, those who are now lost to the world do not have such a luxury. The simple assumptions made about the war, about the military, and about how truly dangerous and destructive it all was led to a death toll that is incredibly difficult to calculate. For me today, it is an example of why seemingly low-stakes assumptions on topics can lead to extreme consequences caused by bias. Everyday people are not involved in the war (our ingroup), so it seems, so an assumption about it being neutral or positive seem harmless, yet it is what led those eight to join and five to die, along with many others just from the American perspective. If they were aware of the biases at play, they may have not simply signed up right at the recruiter and took some time to think it over and explore more behind the bias. Certainly, some would have still joined, but others may not have. Their lives depended on the awareness of bias. Awareness of Bias During Research It should follow that it is no surprise that I view identifying some biases as incredibly important after the previous part of this short answer. Academic studies are no different, and often what we say as academics, as experts, and even as laypeople, can have profound effects far

IDS-100-H7690 / 22EW3 2-1 Short Answer Connor Sculthorpe past what we originally thought was the reach of our academic influence. For instance, I know full well that I have a very strong anti-war bias, so if I was to try to find sources for information regarding the Global War on Terror, I would invariably end up favoring those with negative views of war. Knowing this also means I can write in a preface that I am aware of certain biases, which can prime any readers to understand that the information contained within is loaded, and those readers can then have a healthier understanding of the information presented. This is also true of information I consume. If during my research I know and have some understanding that the outlet I am getting information from has a Neoliberal bias, I can much more carefully tailor my own thoughts and conclusions based on what I read. If I then view an article on the same subject written by an Anarcho-Communist I can gain an even better grasp of the situation as I am aware of these philosophies of governance from the previous outlet as well as the current one I am reading, giving me a clearer picture of not just the situation, but how certain types of people are thinking about the situation. This can also then help me identify holes in the discourse around the subject, which may themselves be things that were accepted as true during the time of the writing of the scholarly articles. This is especially true of research and publication that is done in response to another, such as the rather infamous situation with the book The Bell Curve and the severe academic criticism it was met with. Anyone reading a response to the book will not have the framework necessary to understand the response, leaving them unable to fully understand the response. Similarly, if someone is aware that the book had some things wrong with it but is not aware of its context it existed in at publication where some of its suggestions were frighteningly similar to those enacted by WW2 Germany which had only recently ended half a century prior, they will lack the understanding of the bias the responses have. Many of these responses are from people

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IDS-100-H7690 / 22EW3 2-1 Short Answer Connor Sculthorpe who witnessed or endured similar policies sparking a global war and a mass genocide and will respond in kind as they would to someone advocating WW2 Germany’s policies due to the bias generated by the second world war. This bias is largely the context surrounding the responses to The Bell Curve , with some responses being more focused on the incredibly bad statistical work done in the book.

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