Quotes About Bias

Pictures... are also opinions... [they] set down what the camera operator sees and he sees what he wants to see and what he loves and hates and pities and is proud of.

It's so easy for us to misperceive and see the things in others that we want to see. And, when we're wrong, and often we're dead wrong, we miss the truth.

Some people see what they want to see.

The human animal only sees what it wants to see.

You know, you can go to the fiftieth thing on a Google list and that's the one you want, but the ones you are going to be directed to are the funders.

When people want to inspire you to turn against some group of people, they'll often use empathy.

History justifies whatever we want it to. It teaches absolutely nothing, for it contains everything and gives examples of everything.

All the wars, all the hatred, all the ignorance in the world come out of being so invested in our opinions.

No, Peters, it's all perfectly clear except a reason for doing it. But you know juries when it comes to women.

Because the media always serve up heroes and villians, there had to be the terrible mothers, the anti-Madonnas, the hideous counterexamples good mothers were meant to revile. We regret to report that nearly all of these women were African American and were disproportionately featured as failed mothers in news stories about "crack babies," single, teen mothers, and welfare mothers.

It was beginning to occur to me that I was a little too in love with stereotypes and preconceptions.

Hiding inside this well-meaning phrase is a deep cultural assumption that old is bad and young is good.

If we lose the power of informed debate, we become unable to avoid unfairness in society and to value differing viewpoints. Worse, we lose democracy. We must learn from our past mistakes and triumphs, not color them with a false paintbrush of bias or opinion or reinvent definitions for existing words calling the "truth" a "lie," or we shall never learn to become better people and leave a healthier, happier, safer planet behind us for our children and grandchildren.

The lopsided attitudes of college professors pose a serious challenge to learning because students are so susceptible to becoming lopsided sheep.

Because God only knows why people like what they like and don't like something else.

As a woman of color, I've come to rely on straight white men telling me my experience of the world has nothing to do with my gender, race or class. (Unless something good happens to me, in which case they tell me my gender, race and/or class is exactly why that thing happened).

Enthusiasm for a cause sometimes warps judgment.

Sexism is everywhere, bro. I don't know if it's ever not somewhere.

Oddly enough, Asians are a much smaller 'minority' than African Americans in this country. But because Asians are so successful, college admission officers don't feel sorry for them, so they are not a preferred 'minority.'

Women didn't go to school when they were young because parents preferred to send their brothers. The women couldn't access loans in their own right because the banks sought the approval of a male dependent.

Sometimes when I talk, I sound like a feminist because I get really angry when I hear certain things. For instance, a lot of families don't really educate their girls much while they educate their sons to the full extent. I think that's not fair.

Normally skeptical journalists routinely give renewables a pass. The reason isn't because they don't know how to report critically on energy - they do regularly when it comes to non-renewable energy sources - but rather because they don't want to.

I can't start off with the premise that a coach is better than me just because he's from Europe or South America.

I remember when I was growing up and watching southern people depicted on television, I thought, 'Well, based on what I'm seeing, I guess I'm supposed to be stupid and racist.' It's still, sadly, the easy route for a writer to go.