Autocomplete Function and Bias
This morning, I saw a question posed on a local “What’s going on in…” social media group, asking why there were so many people always sleeping on the grassy area near the courthouse. Some of the answers were thought out and respectful, others immediately defaulted to these people being those with substance use disorders or other forms of addiction. Many answered the question stating the obvious, that many of these people are homeless. The original poster, who posed the question in the first place, defaulted to the stereotypically ignorant ‘autocomplete’ response of, “Well maybe, if they’d get jobs, they wouldn’t be homeless”. I used to think that this type of response and line of thinking was ignorance; people’s lack of education in the matters that they seem to have formed opinions about. Or, simple hatred and loathing for anyone not like them. But now, I realize it’s much more than that. Yes, it’s lack of education. Yes, there is, unfortunately, a lot of hate in the world. But it’s also just simplification of complex problems and world issues. Much like other world issues, the problems associated with homelessness cannot be simplified in this way, “get a job, and you can get a home”. Homelessness is far too complex an issue to be broken down as such. Were it that simple, no one would be homeless.
Homelessness is an issue that culminates from a variety of factors in each individual un-homed person’s life. Factors including; mental health injury or illness, substance use disorders and other addictions (ei.; gambling addiction), from divorce, bankruptcy, job loss, etc. Some, from the deep desire to be free of all of the chains that bind us to material things, and to live free. Some people I’ve spoken with, throughout my years working in community services of one kind or another, simply wanted to live free. Some, travelled the world with nothing but a backpack with a few essentials, and the clothes on their back. Working cash jobs each place they visited. Some, like my brother, lived off the land. I mean, he wasn’t necessarily homeless, as he did build himself a cabin to live in but his existence was far from ‘traditional’, and he didn’t have any real ‘fixed address’ when he lived out in the middle of the woods in the Yukon. But he was free, and happy. Were you to try and simplify his existence, you would likely consider him homeless, as well though. Tell him to ‘get a job’. Consider him a ‘vagrant’. Despite the fact that he lived more life in his short 30 years, than most do in a hundred. And was very likely, much happier and more fulfilled person than the man who commented, “get a job” on this post today.
There is no way of simplifying such a complex issue. And when you try, it comes out as hateful and ignorant. It’s the same kind of hateful rhetoric that comes from the over simplification we see in response to issues being raised by and within the BIPOC, or LGBTIA+ communities. Comments like, “Black Lives Matter is Marxist”, or “Slavery ended hundreds of years ago, get over it”. Other comments I’ve seen are too hateful to put down on paper. But you get the point. Much the same are the ignorant and biased comments and opinions that exist with regard to the LGBTQIA+ community. Hateful rhetoric coming from people’s attempts at oversimplifying things that they cannot understand. Comments like; “there are only two genders”, or “this is just a trend” (again, in addition to much more hateful ones that I outright refuse to give life to here). Ignorance leads to simplification, which leads to hate. Instead of taking a quick, ignorant stance, perhaps people should just try to understand by educating themselves on whatever issue they are opining on; before commenting and doing more damage. Unfortunately, instead of simply asking questions with the goal of understanding, many just simplify the issues through their own understanding. That’s what leads to this hateful rhetoric. And this hateful rhetoric is what leads to further divide, and further damage to people within marginalized or at-risk communities.
It is the result of people, trying to wrap their brain around why people are/live/exist differently than they do. It is the inevitable outcome of people engaging in what is known as, “lazy reasoning”. Much like the feature of the same name that exists in our web browsers today, It’s the brain’s ‘autocomplete feature’, oversimplifying complex issues. Googling ‘keywords’ and coming up with the automatic result/response to these words. It impedes tolerance, and, it creates or exacerbates bias. It creates people, with closed minds and frozen hearts.
As author, Craig Blake wrote, in his blog post, “How Oversimplifying a Complex World Drives us Apart”, “Beyond propagating false or incomplete characterizations, we are training ourselves to be less able and willing to grapple with complicated modern-day topics. Instead, we are far more prepared to accept the simplified perceptions and misconceptions dictated by our communities. This drives us apart and makes it far more difficult to come back together over honest discussions of complex topics sometimes lacking any one right answer.”
I agree. And, will add to this author’s idea that oversimplification of complex problems not only drives us apart but creates intolerance, and sometimes violence. That, using our browser’s and our brain’s ‘autocomplete function’, creates bias that impedes understanding of these issues. And, without understanding, we continue the cycle of bias, intolerance, hate and violence.
As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, each person sees things through their own perspective. A perspective that has been formed by their own perceptions; formed through their biological make up, and their own psychology. Psychology, formed by their biology and a lifetime of socialization. For them to understand complex issues, they need to get out of their own heads and bubbles and try to see things through other’s perspectives. They need to open their minds and to ask questions, and listen for answers. They don’t need to have the answers, themselves.
You don’t have to have the answers. You don’t need to be able to solve the problems but, an open mind and a little bit of loving kindness can go a long, long way. Whereas, lazy reasoning, and over simplifying our complex world, only serves to drive us apart further. In order for humanity to survive, and retain some humanness, we need to reduce some of the hate in our world; in ourselves. To reduce the amount of hate in our own minds and hearts, we need to stop simplifying and start expanding on our own understanding.
And, although you cannot simplify these issues, you can simplify the solution. It truly is a simple solution. If you’re not chiming in, in order to do good or help another person, don’t chime in. And, if you’re going to chime in, do so through understanding and without bias. In order to reduce bias, work toward that understanding, through research and asking questions. Don’t be a lazy reasoner. Don’t use ‘autocomplete’.