You suck at math and racism.

Here let me show you a trick:

A bat and a ball cost $1.10.

The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball.

How much is the ball?

$0.10, right? No. The answer is $0.05.

Don’t believe me? Write it down.

If you got it right, good for you. I’m still talking to you below, just pretend you understand.

How much is one dollar more than $0.10? That’s right it’s $1.10.

So what’s $1.10 plus $0.10?

Don’t feel bad, this isn’t a trick I’m doing to you.

It’s a trick I’m showing you that we all do to ourselves.

By some accounts, your brain is dealing with 11 million pieces of information per second.

Your conscious mind can deal with about 50 per second.

You are able to actively process about seven per second.

So the VAST MAJORITY of information you are receiving is dealt with by your SUBCONSCIOUS BRAIN.

That math shit above? That was to show you an example of how it does that. It creates shortcuts.

Your brain saw that math problem and jumped ahead. It rounded the numbers into something nice and easy for it to deal with so it could move on and deal with the other four million things.

Watch this shit:

A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?

Bat + ball = $1.10

The bat is one dollar MORE than the ball.

Ball + $1.00 = Bat

Ball = $0.10? No. Why?

$0.10 + $1.00 = $1.10 (bat?)

$1.10(bat?) + $0.10(ball) = $1.20!

The ball is $0.05

$0.05 (ball) + $1.05 (bat) = $1.10

That’s a shortcut your brain created in your subconscious so that the math problem could be easily processed.

It made an INSTANT assumption about the problem and immediately told you the answer.

And it was wrong.

SO WRONG.

How does it feel to be wrong, Wrongston McWrongiffer? You wrong motherfucker you.

(Yes. I had to watch four- count em FOUR- YouTube videos before I understood the math)

So what the fuck does all this have to do with you?

Two words: Slippery nipple.

Wait. Not those two.

Unconscious bias.

That’s what it has to do with you.

Everyone has it. Literally everyone has an unconscious bias because our brains have created shortcuts to classify people as “friendly” or “potential threats” based on their appearance, and how closely they resemble OURSELVES.

Racial is the most obvious bias, but it applies to gender, religion, age, body type- you are judging people all day long whether you want to or not, you judgmental bastard.

So how do we fight it?

We notice it.

The next time you get a random math problem that seems pretty easy, you’re probably going to pause a little longer than you did before.

Why? BECAUSE OF HOW WRONG YOU WERE. (sorry)

That’s because you’ve learned that things aren’t necessarily what they seem with it.

We fight unconscious bias the same way.

THIS IS WHY 2019 IS THE BEST YEAR EVER FOR FIGHTING BIAS

Fighting unconscious bias = being aware of your unconscious bias + pausing to question your rationale during decisions.

Is there anyone in America who isn’t aware of the words “bias”, “prejudice”, “racism”?

If they are, we need to help that person. (Softly, because they probably don’t know who the President is either.

Break it gently. With tissues).

So if we have disseminated information on bias far and wide, people are already thinking about it.

Are they pausing to question their rationale? I honestly don’t know. I know I do. And therein lies the rub.

That’s why so many people get pissed about the racial conversation in the US: the groupings.

If I’m a white, straight male who makes a point to notice and counteract my bias- do I have white privilege?

Only if others DON’T pause to consider their rationale.

But if they DO, there is no more white privilege. Not subconscious anyway,

There are real flaws institutionally that we need to address, but if we can eliminate unconscious bias- or at least beat the shit out of it- we can move forward as a country.

The problem is that no one will let us, because we’ve grouped everyone already.

Anchor bias is a dedication to the conclusion you INITIALLY reached on something, and refuse to update that belief when given new information.

In modern America anchor bias is more common, more destructive and more accepted than unconscious bias.

But we won’t talk about that, because then the victims become guilty. And that’s not the American way.