Bias and Emotions

[Angama]

In my quest to find out exactly what I do and don't believe (if I do in fact believe) I find it rather difficult to put aside my emotions and bias. So much so that I don't think it's possible to rid myself of them. Does anyone else have this problem? If this is common among most would it be far-fetched to conclude that either evolution or a god has a reason for such wicked attachements? Maybe a bias is what we are supposed to have? And if so, which biases?

AA

 

[Quiddity]

Personally I don't think so. But some Methodological Naturalist will squeal at such things....

~Victor

 

[Bennettresearch]

In my quest to find out exactly what I do and don't believe (if I do in fact believe) I find it rather difficult to put aside my emotions and bias. So much so that I don't think it's possible to rid myself of them. Does anyone else have this problem? If this is common among most would it be far-fetched to conclude that either evolution or a god has a reason for such wicked attachements? Maybe a bias is what we are supposed to have? And if so, which biases?

AA

Hi Angama,

I am proud of you that you would examine this within yourself. I spent thirty years in self examination of a very extensive sort. What I would say to it is that it is important to have healthy emotions. If one cleans out their closet so to speak, they won't eradicate emotions, but will have better control of them. I don't think that a lot of people do this nowadays and they are sometimes ruled by their emotions. It is funny to me that many people who are complaining the most about biases may have more biases than the ones they are talking about. One must examine themselves to see if they have a healthy bias or an unreasonable or irrational bias. This is only something that someone can do on their own, no one else can do it for you.

 

[Cynic]

In my quest to find out exactly what I do and don't believe (if I do in fact believe) I find it rather difficult to put aside my emotions and bias. So much so that I don't think it's possible to rid myself of them. Does anyone else have this problem? If this is common among most would it be far-fetched to conclude that either evolution or a god has a reason for such wicked attachements? Maybe a bias is what we are supposed to have? And if so, which biases?

AA

Your biases are from my knowledge, memories and the experiences which created them. Parts of your brain interpret sensory information which (hypothetically) relies on memory to interpret. How can an organism interpret what is in it's environment? It would be difficult with no database of information. You can't erase memories, even if you don't remember them, they are etched in your brain which supposedly, is reprocessed for survival purposes. What happens next, in a simplified explanation, is that emotional centers are then triggered, that is before reaching the cognitive areas of your brain.

You might be able to overridde your biases the same way someone might overridde their phobias, by experiencing something that creates a different memory.
I would say in my opinion, that everyone has biases, and we judge others immediatly in biased ways, based on our memories which come from learning experiences. We almost instantly size up things around us. It's probably an important function which has contributed to our survival.

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implic...electatest.html

 

[Quiddity]

by experiencing something that creates a different memory.

Wouldn't this just be a NEW bias/emotion? Only proving his point.

~Victor

 

[michel]

In my quest to find out exactly what I do and don't believe (if I do in fact believe) I find it rather difficult to put aside my emotions and bias. So much so that I don't think it's possible to rid myself of them. Does anyone else have this problem? If this is common among most would it be far-fetched to conclude that either evolution or a god has a reason for such wicked attachements? Maybe a bias is what we are supposed to have? And if so, which biases?

AA

We humans arewired for emotions - they are simply part of our nature. To deny them is to deny an intrinsic part of your own humanity. Those who eliminate emotions from the way they live their day to day lives often are setting up a shield for something that is unpleasant to think of.

No,there is nothing wrong with it -' Wise mind' is a mixture (in equal parts)of logical mind, emotional mind, and intuition.......that is how we are supposed to 'work'.

 

[Mike182]

it is, as far as i am aware, completely impossible to be fully objective, especially when it comes to religion which is such a subjective experience

if you have strong feelings on a subject, and you find a religion tha tyou feel fits with your personal tone, then add 2 and 2 together, and look further into that religion

your personal views, biases, emotions are what makes you who you are, and most religions will accept you for your individuality

good luck, hope i answerd something

C_P

 

[Cynic]

Wouldn't this just be a NEW bias/emotion? Only proving his point.

~Victor

I would say yes. As humans we are naturally biased towards certain people or things.
I am borrowing the idea from the theory of fear extinction.
Say for example if you were afraid of spiders, everytime you saw one. However you were extra sensitive to them, because you were bitten by a recluse or something. You might be able to desensitize that fear by playing with tarantulas. It would be a memory that registers spiders as being non-hostile, instead of something that is to be recognized as hostile.

Also I think that people can be biased about something contrary to what they consciously believe in, or agree with. Like for example, the movie "Crash". Let's examine the situation where the woman who looked the other way when the two black men were approaching. The reason might not necassarily be because she was racist. Her reaction was probably an instinctive thing, and due the environment that she was in. I have been in a similar situation, and I am not racist at all.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Personally I don't think so. But some Methodological Naturalist will squeal at such things....

~Victor

I somehow feel obliged to squeel ...

 

[Quiddity]

most religions will accept you for your individuality

True CP, but don't forget that these things also shape and dictate what you may or may not believe.

~Victor

 

[Quiddity]

I somehow feel obliged to squeel ...

What a good sport.

~Victor

 

[Quiddity]

I would say yes. As humans we are naturally biased towards certain people or things.
I am borrowing the idea from the theory of fear extinction.
Say for example if you were afraid of spiders, everytime you saw one. However you were extra sensitive to them, because you were bitten by a recluse or something. You might be able to desensitize that fear by playing with tarantulas. It would be a memory that registers spiders as being non-hostile, instead of something that is to be recognized as hostile.

Then perhaps Angama is right. A correct bias is out there.

~Victor

 

[Angama]

Whats the point of posting if Victor seems to already nail down what I wanted to say. Thank you.

AA