Pandemic Induced Self Bias Check

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It sucks and is embarrassing for me...but I have more bias than I thought.

I thought most of my biases are unconscious, but becoming aware of this bias makes me feel disappointment in myself as someone who perceived myself differently.

I have noticed that my unconscious reaction to masked individuals is different based on their sex and skin color.

With all of the people around wearing masks, I have noticed that my situational awareness and sense of readiness is unintentionally increased when I encounter younger male people of color wearing masks...

Younger white males less so.

Women or elderly people of any color no difference.

It must have been this way for me all along, but the mask triggers an unconscious "danger" signal.

Anyone else notice anything like this? Interesting social experiment....
 
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I don't care who wears a mask. But I definitely have a bias about reactions to me when I don't: the over 40 crowd. They give me the I-just-ate-a-turd look. Almost every single one. I go out of my way to avoid old people now.
It's usually the 50-65 year old guys at Food Lion and Sheetz who donā€™t where them, me included.
I know what they are thinking, too.
Iā€™VE LIVED THROUGH ENOUGH OF THIS SHIITE.
COME. AND. GET. ME!!!!!!!

The really old guys all wear them, which I guess is smart.
 
Two meatball wannabe robbers wore watermelons on their heads for a heist.
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For me, it has shown me how little I actually pay attention to peoples faces when in public. I pay far more attention to body signals. Are they walking comfortably? Erratic movements? Do they appear uncomfortable or anxious? I guess it comes some from way back in the day when I was pretty big into martial arts...faces rarely strike you, but hands, feet, and the body can give you far more information on someones intent than just seeing their mouth.
 
I heard an aerosol specialist Dr today talking about masks. He said that everytime you speak droplets come out. He compared it to all the dust particles you can see in the air when the sun is shining through a window. He said if you come into his office and neither of you are wearing a mask, you will both be exposed to the droplets within 2 minutes. If you are both wearing a mask, you will both be exposed in 4 minutes.
 
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I only give the stank eye to naked faces when they ALSO do extra dumbass stuff. Like that guy at the courthouse this morning, with no mask, who coughed all over the GD lobby.
My bias is toward idiots, all shades.
 
I think it's a somewhat natural and instinctive reaction. Some time ago, my wife was about to undergo surgery on her neck and was getting nervous. She asked if that was unreasonable. I told her, they were going to knock her unconscious and men in mask were going to cut her throat with sharp knives. So yeah, it was natural to be nervous. ;)
 
bias does not equal racism or sexism.

if i see a black guy with pants falling off his butt walking around grabbing his crotch, i keep my eye on him.
if i see a black guy in a 3 piece suit - i dont. is that racist?
if i see a white guy with pants falling off his butt walking around grabbing his crotch, i keep my eye on him.
if i see a petite white girl walking around with big boobs walking around, i keep my eye on her. is that sexist?

wait bad example......

how about a teenage white guy (me) in a predominately black neighborhood known for drug activity, driving up and sitting outside a house waiting to pickup his friend. a cop notices this is "out of the ordinary" for this situation and investigates, questions, tries to search vehicle. was i profiled? was it racist? was i being oppressed? or was the cop simply use his prior experience and observations to determine an even that suggested and increased chance of criminal activity? the cop was black. does that matter?

mother nature gave us the ability to identify patterns because it increases the likelihood of survival. that is not a bad thing.
 
It sucks and is embarrassing for me...but I have more bias than I thought.

I thought most of my biases are unconscious, but becoming aware of this bias makes me feel disappointment in myself as someone who perceived myself differently.

I have noticed that my unconscious reaction to masked individuals is different based on their sex and skin color.

With all of the people around wearing masks, I have noticed that my situational awareness and sense of readiness is unintentionally increased when I encounter younger male people of color wearing masks...

Younger white males less so.

Women or elderly people of any color no difference.

It must have been this way for me all along, but the mask triggers an unconscious "danger" signal.

Anyone else notice anything like this? Interesting social experiment....
I don't differentiate by age or skin color; my trigger is the type of mask.

My parents allowed me to become twisted playing cowboys and indians decades ago. If you wear a bandana, particularly in a traditional western print or color, you must be a bad hombre ... and I have my eye on you.
 
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I have noticed that my unconscious reaction to masked individuals is different based on their sex and skin color.

It's not unconscious bias if you're aware of it, by definition. Furthermore, as has already been pointed out, bias and racism aren't one and the same. Simple statistical analysis will tell you that there are marked demographic characteristics to common crimes and misdemeanors, and ignoring the risks for the sake of some lofty enlightenment ideal is a great route to becoming a victim.
 
I assume anyone wearing a surgical mask is either:

A: Someone who is sickly with a lowered immune system and therefore not a threat.

B: One of the sheep that cannot think for themselves and therefore not a threat.


I donā€™t notice or care what color they are.
 
It's not unconscious bias if you're aware of it, by definition. Furthermore, as has already been pointed out, bias and racism aren't one and the same. Simple statistical analysis will tell you that there are marked demographic characteristics to common crimes and misdemeanors, and ignoring the risks for the sake of some lofty enlightenment ideal is a great route to becoming a victim.

before masks I have never noticed this. I always felt that I judge someone based on how they were behaving or if they seem to be acting suspiciously etc.

I think somewhere in my lizard brain something says masks are bad. What really bothers me is that somewhere in my lizard brain it must also say brown and black people are scarier than white people.

so while it has become conscious now it mustā€™ve been unconscious before
 
I look at whether they're approaching me, and if so how fast, and I watch people's hands....other than that, I don't care who they are or what they're doing.

You stay out of my "comfort zone" and we're all good....lol.
 
I don't care who wears a mask. But I definitely have a bias about reactions to me when I don't: the over 40 crowd. They give me the I-just-ate-a-turd look. Almost every single one. I go out of my way to avoid old people now.


Same here.

Only place I wear a mask is at work....because I have to.

Other than that, I ainā€™t sportinā€™ one and donā€™t intend to....and yeah, I get the ā€œyouā€™re the anti-christā€ look pretty often.
 
Everybody was wearing them into FoodLion,
except the employees, until very recently.
 
before masks I have never noticed this. I always felt that I judge someone based on how they were behaving or if they seem to be acting suspiciously etc.

I think somewhere in my lizard brain something says masks are bad. What really bothers me is that somewhere in my lizard brain it must also say brown and black people are scarier than white people.

so while it has become conscious now it mustā€™ve been unconscious before
Our lizard brains try to share with us the cumulative experiences of millions of years of evolution. On top of that, our active human brains remember our individual personal experiences. Those two sources provide a lot of information to keep us safe, but it is absolutely not filtered by political correctness.
 
Most of the people in the Harris Teeter at the Arboretum last night did not have masks on. I didn't see anyone harassing anyone over it.
 
So those that have problem with folks wearing mask, do you feel the same way in winter time when folks wear them?
 
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So those that have problem with folks wearing mask, do you feel the same way in winter time when folks wear them?
I see it rarely, in fact I canā€™t recall seeing it at all, but if I did thereā€™s no media blitz caused paranoia, virtue signaling (for the wearers, and those who donā€™t), and the rest of the behavior modified psychosis that comes with this pandemic.
 
bias does not equal racism or sexism...
...mother nature gave us the ability to identify patterns because it increases the likelihood of survival. that is not a bad thing.

Our lizard brains try to share with us the cumulative experiences of millions of years of evolution. On top of that, our active human brains remember our individual personal experiences. Those two sources provide a lot of information to keep us safe, but it is absolutely not filtered by political correctness.

I've heard it said and believe it: It is programmed into your brain-stem that the first thing that happens when you see a human sihouette appear on the horizon is a gender assessment. This is top of the list because it helps determine the potential for the ultimate in survival instincts: Fighting or F'ing. Tribe is a little farther down, but still on the same list.
 
I find wearing a mask annoying, mainly because I have to futz with it to avoid fogging my glasses, but I have come to appreciate it as such an easy way to blend in and be viewed as a sheep.

ETA: I also have to keep in mind a possible downside... I am easily mistaken for being middle eastern, so the mask might make me look more threatening to some, and doesn't let people see you smiling.
 
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My boss gave us masks to wear through all this. I havent needed it and havent been shamed for not wearing it so i kept it in my car just in case...I recently sold a gun to a fella who was very nervous about the rona. I told him id wear a mask and sanitize the gun,box, etc. if that made him feel better. As soon as i got in my car i put the mask on and it ripped almost in half from the top of the nose to my upper lip..... I tried...and failed. It appears my mask wanted social distancing from me so i threw it in the trash can.
 
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