Unconscious Bias

Every day we make countless automatic decisions. It's been estimated that we are exposed to roughly eleven million bits of information at any given moment. However, our brains can only consciously manage about forty of those eleven million (that's right FORTY). In other words, the vast majority of information is filtered through a perceptual lens that is driven by our unconscious mind. Researchers call this “unconscious bias.”

Our unconscious mind is a repository of past experiences that includes things like our perceptions, prejudices, intuition, and subliminal desires. Although these influences rarely reach our conscious minds, they play a significant role in governing our decisions. But, to ensure we're making the best decisions we possibly can (especially people decisions), we want to make sure we're objective and consider all the facts before making judgments and drawing conclusions.  We can counter our automatic listening, by practicing generous listening, remaining open, present, and connected to ourselves and others.

Watch this 4 minute video Goggle created to raise awareness about “unconscious bias.”