Stop Using 'Bias' As An Excuse To Remain Uninformed | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Politics

3 Reasons You Should Stop Using 'Bias' As An Excuse To Remain Uninformed

Admit it: You're lazy and ignorant. But, you can change.

210
3 Reasons You Should Stop Using 'Bias' As An Excuse To Remain Uninformed

In This Article:

WARNING: Brutal honesty included in this article. Prepare yourself.

Here's the rub. Everything, and every person in this life, is biased. Its human nature. We judge. We form opinions. By claiming that certain information is somehow too biased for your attention, you are basically saying that you are incapable of separating fact from opinion.

Newsflash: you sound stupid.

I won't apologize for being blunt, because some people need to hear this. We are now faced with a generation of politically illiterate individuals. They've been fed this idea that they can't possibly read this or watch that because, *GASP*, it's ... biased. Cue scary piano riff.

1. Information is information, regardless of how it is framed.

If you find yourself questioning certain information, you can fact-check and confirm sources. We live in this reality where all of the information we could ever need is at our fingertips. This accessibility, unfortunately, has made us less intelligent. People are much less likely to seek out information because they can just google it when they need to.

I actively try to expose myself to every avenue of information possible, and everyone else should too. Believe me, I understand sometimes it is frustrating to see things framed in a way that you don't agree with.

But the minute you decide to stop exposing yourself to it, you have become ignorant.

Everyone should be reading a variety of newspapers as well as watching a variety of news channels. What's most interesting about the people claiming what I like to call 'the bias defense', is that they actually haven't ever watched or read from the source they're discrediting.

2. Exposition to different views strengthens your arguments.

How exactly are you to rebut something that you don't understand the reasoning behind?

We have a habit of believing that people with other opinions are somehow less intelligent than us. We forget the idea of perspective. Perspective, coupled with values, and personal experience shape our opinions. Until you are willing to walk a mile in your counterpart's shoes, you will never be able to convince them of your own opinion.

A common failure among many left-leaning debaters is their instinct to assume any opinion on the right side of the isle is based in hatred, bigotry, racism, sexism, and more. At that point, they've lost any chance of persuasion. Insulting your opponent is never a good start.

The purpose of debate, besides to promote dialogue, is to persuade. Persuasion cannot occur through misunderstanding and mockery of one's opinions.

Persuasion can only take place once you fully understand the opposing argument and the reasoning associated. What better way is there to do this than exposing yourself to what the opposition is exposed to?

3. Refusing to indulge information from the other side is polarizing. 

We are currently in a polarization period. It is up to us to do our best to bring America back to the middle, and further from the extremes. By refusing to watch, or read the news that you don't agree with, you are contributing to the further polarization of our country. You don't want to see it, so you pretend its not there. But it is there. And maybe you could've gained something from it. Now you never will.

The more we understand why our neighbors feel the way they do, the less we assume everyone who disagrees is evil. This is when productive discussion takes place, and when polarization retreats.

It is an important skill to be able to distinguish what the facts are regardless of how they are framed. It is also extremely important to understand how others perceive the same information. Do not use "the bias defense" to preserve the bliss of a life absent of political intelligence.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
friends

Whether you're commuting or dorming, your first year of college is a huge adjustment. The transition from living with parents to being on my own was an experience I couldn't have even imagined- both a good and a bad thing. Here's a personal archive of a few of the things I learned after going away for the first time.

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

Economic Benefits of Higher Wages

Nobody deserves to be living in poverty.

299996
Illistrated image of people crowded with banners to support a cause
StableDiffusion

Raising the minimum wage to a livable wage would not only benefit workers and their families, it would also have positive impacts on the economy and society. Studies have shown that by increasing the minimum wage, poverty and inequality can be reduced by enabling workers to meet their basic needs and reducing income disparities.

I come from a low-income family. A family, like many others in the United States, which has lived paycheck to paycheck. My family and other families in my community have been trying to make ends meet by living on the minimum wage. We are proof that it doesn't work.

Keep Reading...Show less
blank paper
Allena Tapia

As an English Major in college, I have a lot of writing and especially creative writing pieces that I work on throughout the semester and sometimes, I'll find it hard to get the motivation to type a few pages and the thought process that goes behind it. These are eleven thoughts that I have as a writer while writing my stories.

Keep Reading...Show less
April Ludgate

Every college student knows and understands the struggle of forcing themselves to continue to care about school. Between the piles of homework, the hours of studying and the painfully long lectures, the desire to dropout is something that is constantly weighing on each and every one of us, but the glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel helps to keep us motivated. While we are somehow managing to stay enrolled and (semi) alert, that does not mean that our inner-demons aren't telling us otherwise, and who is better to explain inner-demons than the beloved April Ludgate herself? Because of her dark-spirit and lack of filter, April has successfully been able to describe the emotional roller-coaster that is college on at least 13 different occasions and here they are.

Keep Reading...Show less
college
Pinterest

For many undergraduates across the nation, the home stretch has begun. Only one more semester remains in our undergraduate career. Oh, the places we will go! For the majority of college seniors, this is simultaneously the best and worst year out of the past four and here’s why.

1. The classes you are taking are actually difficult.

A schedule full of easy pottery throwing and film courses is merely a myth on the average campus. With all of those prerequisites for the upper-level courses and the never-ending battle you fight each year during registration for limited class seats, senior year brings with it the ability to register for the final courses you need to fulfill your major. Yet, these are not the easy entry level courses. These are the comprehensive, end of major, capstone courses designed to apply the knowledge from all your previous courses, usually in the form of an extensive research paper or engaged learning project. The upside is you actually probably really enjoy these classes but alas there is no room for slackers here.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments