Is it a removal of bias when you deal with someone anonymously? On the surface, it seems like it works, but as I see it the bias hasn't been removed, only obfuscated.
The interaction is able to take place without a preconception or prejudice based on appearance, and that can certainly be good. But that doesn't really mean that the bias doesn't exist. To take an obvious stereotype example: if you put a prejudiced white person in a room with a prejudiced black person, the bias is there. If they interact online with no knowledge of skin color, the interaction may proceed normally, but what happens if they then meet? We want to believe that a TV-like morality lesson will be learned and that the racist person will realize that the other person's skin color doesn't matter; however, in my experience the bias comes rushing to the forefront and the racist person may become even more incensed feeling they have been betrayed and lied to by the other person. It's not rational, but I've seen it happen. I'm not saying that obfuscation is all bad. As Patrick said, it may help break down the "Us and Them". However, does it have a flip side? Do people intentionally hide their color/race/religion/culture in order to interact? Do those aspects become like a dreaded albatross and something people come to wish to shed in order to become a nameless, faceless "sanitized" person? If we are sanitizing, does that cast those troublesome qualities as "dirty"? Where is the line drawn between being proud of our differences and being hindered by them? Kevin Graeme > -----Original Message----- > From: Michael Dinowitz [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Wednesday, October 02, 2002 10:43 PM > To: CF-Community > Subject: A good thing > > > One of the good things about the net and email is that you can talk to > thousands of people and unless they volunteer the information, there is no > way of knowing the persons race, religion or even gender. Case in point: I > didn't know Ben Forta was Jewish until about 2 years into talking to him. > I think that over time this will go far in removing some of the > bias in our > society. > > Michael Dinowitz > Master of the House of Fusion > http://www.houseoffusion.com > > ______________________________________________________________________ Get the mailserver that powers this list at http://www.coolfusion.com Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/cf-community@houseoffusion.com/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
