The other day, I was talking with a family and the young girl said "Well, it's actually pretty simple. I am adorable... and my brother just needs to learn how to be more adorable. Can you help us with that?" Talk about trying to keep a straight face... I glanced at the parents and they were having trouble keeping their smiles under some semblance of control, too. It got me thinking about many things (of course). One of them was the nature of bias and the power of story.
Actually, she had a point. Once a negative event occurs, you have a "data point." Then, if you have another one, a "story" starts to develop around it. Depending on how that story develops... the themes and direction it takes, that story begins to influence the behavior of everyone else involved in that circle. And, pretty soon, you have a series of stories, which will often "match" the first story, because of how our biases will often reinforce the original story... which relied on that little tiny interpretation of that little teensie weensie event... which no one may even remember.
Maybe we might consider this when we are "sure" that we "know the truth when we see it...?" Perhaps, we can take a breath, step back and ask ourselves "What can I not see yet? What else am I missing?"
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