We aren’t really the very rational, objective creatures so many of us
academics profess to be. You think only subjective emotions lead us astray?
You think we don't have what I'll call "cognitive biases?" Think again. Those
biases are called "labels," "stereotypes," "generalizations," "perceptions,"
"presumptions," "expectations." And, those cognitive biases routinely impose
barriers. Those cognitive biases continually steer us wrong. Don't believe
me? Read some of the stuff by Harvard's Ellen Langer. In a recent NY Times
article, as well as in many of her other publication, this preeminent
psychologist argued that people are trained not to think and are thus extremely
vulnerable to right-sounding, emotionally satisfying, but actually wrong
notions. “They’re just not there,” as she puts it. The bottom line is that
when you’re not there, Langer reasoned, you’re very likely to end up wherever
you're "mindlessly led by the label,” And so, she went on to say people,
academics included, are also spectacularly inattentive to what’s going on
around them. It's an inattentiveness that makes them mindless; and that
mindlessness, in turn, makes us indifferent. And, that indifference doesn't
allow us to see much, listen much, reach out much, touch much, much less
welcome and embrace. We're indifferent to those in whom we don't believe can
make a positive difference, and blame them for our ineffectiveness. They're
those "don't belongs," those "they're letting anyone in."
But, that probably scares a lot of us academics who put themselves
above the sordid fray of the "real world." We don't like being called
"biased." We don't like being placed among the "mindless." After all, we're
intellectuals; we tout ourselves as objective apart from the brutishness
outside the Ivory Tower . But, we're not as clear sighted and sure sighted as
we make ourselves out to be. Those sorting out labels give us a predisposition
of believing who are the academic brahmins we see, who is worthy of our
efforts, for whom we have the time, who we want in our classes, and on whom we
lay doting wreaths of praise. Those caste-creating categories make us
susceptible to the beliefs of who is an untouchable "waste of our valuable
time," who should go unseen, whom we should ignore, and to whom we should be
indifferent. But, as Ellen Langer said, "the observer affects the observed."
Let me put it this way, what you believe about yourself and others you will
see; what you believe and see, you will feel; and what you feel, you will live;
and what you live, you will do. Think about how we have an easy time of
carving our assumptions about students and ourselves into stone. Think about
the fact that you can only ignore someone you don’t believe is worthy,
valuable, sacred, and noble; but, you can’t ever take your mind and heart off,
even for a second, those of whom you're mindful, from the ones you see, from
the ones you value and deem worthy of your time and effort.
I know personally what Maya Angelou meant when she said, “I've learned
that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but
people will never forget how you made them feel.” I was once among Adelphi
College's academic untouchables until Dr. Birdsal Viault took me under his wing
and treated me feel like an academic brahmin. As he did, it scared me. I
initially recoiled. The shadows were far more friendly where no one would see
my weakened self-confidence and low self-esteem. I saw no reason why he
believed in me. Certainly, not from my dismal GPA by which all others
professors judged me. There were times he got disappointed, frustrated, even
angry, but in spite of my resistance and reluctance, he wouldn't throw up his
hands and let go. To this day, I remember a gnawing with in me, of being
forced to ask myself fearfully over and over and over again, almost every day,
"Why does he believe in me? I don't? What does he see in me that I don't?"
And, as he and I discussed answers those questions almost every day in his
office, I slowly began to move from disbelieve to belief, and then I began to
see. From academic untouchable to academic brahmin: "The observer affects the
observed." Ultimately, I would say each I walked into class, "If me, why not
others." I repeat: what you believe about yourself and others, you will see;
what you believe and see, you will feel; and what you feel, you will live; and
what you live, you will do.
The real challenge is opening our eyes to the good news: "Thar's gold
in them that hills," and seeing the possibilities within us and others. So,
let me pose a question or two or three. If the science has proven changes in
the ways which we view ourselves and the world around us--what we believe and
therefore see, feel, live, and do--in fact, alters our lives and our
experiences dramatically, what would happen if we have the courage and strength
to change our beliefs and see differently? What would happen if we supported
and encouraged, instead of fearing and castigating, those who are struggling to
make those changes? What would happen if we discarded these biases of
limiting, demeaning, belittling, caste-creating labels and presumptions? What
would happen if we changed our language? What would happen if the most
important words in our new vocabulary were "sacred," "noble," "unique,"
"respect," "invaluable," "faith," "hope," "human being," and, above all,
"love?"
Make it a good day
-Louis-
Louis Schmier
http://www.therandomthoughts.edublogs.org
203 E. Brookwood Pl http://www.therandomthoughts.com
Valdosta, Ga 31602
(C) 229-630-0821 /\ /\ /\ /\
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/ \ / \
/ \/ \_ \/ / \/
/\/ / \ /\ \
//\/\/ /\ \__/__/_/\_\/
\_/__\ \
/\"If you want to climb
mountains,\ /\
_ / \ don't practice on mole
hills" - / \_
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