Shankar said that most people, when they think about bias, think of overt racism, sexism, or homophobia. These are conscious biases – those that have a big effect, that you can point to how they clearly favor one kind of person over another. By contrast, the role of unconscious bias seems very mundane suggests Shankar. However, he argues, these are the biases of which we should be most concerned.
Shankar likens conscious bias to an aircraft carrier and unconscious bias to the tide. He points out that while the aircraft carrier is very dramatic and has a lot of power, the tide’s power, while subtle, is even greater. You can’t point to any drop of water and say this drop of water carries the tide; each drop’s minuscule movements are amplified over billions of other drops increasing the power of the tide with each drop. That’s what happens with unconscious bias because the bias is so widespread, and shared with so many people, it affect us without our awareness of the consequences of these biases.
