FACING UP TO BIAS

Very few people believe they are prejudiced against others. But according to the author of a deeply thoughtful book, most of us are kidding ourselves.

- GREG DIXON

The fear came out of nowhere for Jessica Nordell. While working on her new book in a university library not far from her home, the American journalist noticed two young men rise from their seats and walk slowly towards the end of the room. It was finals week at this Minnesota university, so the library was quiet but also crowded with students as the two men unrolled mats and knelt. As Nordell realised what they were doing, her physical state changed: her heart rate leapt, her hands dampened, her breathing quickened.

To her complete confusion – and in complete contradiction of her conscious thoughts about Islam – she realised that the unexpected sight of these young men praying to their god had induced in her something also unforeseen. Why had this happened? How was it possible she could consciously think one thing about Muslims while her body seemed to be thinking something completely different?

As it happened, Nordell knew exactly why. In no small irony, the book she was working on that winter’s day explained that she was experiencing a phenomenon called unconscious bias.

“I had an involuntary fear response, which was shocking to me,” she tells the Listener from her home in Minneapolis. “I didn’t even realise that I was carrying that kind of automatic reaction to the presence of Muslims. But I felt it physically.”

It does seem irreconcilable – that a well-intentioned, fair-minded person, who consciously and mindfully thinks only good things about most people, might still behave in ways that are discriminatory or biased or fearful.