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We make evaluations almost every moment in our life (probably even when we are sleeping). These evaluations help us to make decisions, decisions that are vital to our well-being and most essentially for our survival. The human brain gathers data from the surrounding environment, analyses them to find patterns and cross-checks them with past experiences or knowledge to come to a conclusion suggesting whether or not we are in danger. Therefore, any evaluation we make is to a great degree, involuntary. If we compare ourselves to an artificial intelligence driven machine, the decision-making process is quite different. The machine makes decisions based on available information, whereas in case of insufficient information it returns an error message. However, the decision-making process in a human brain is driven by personal preferences along with existing information.
Rapes and molestations have become weekly news. Now, the question arises: How do the people involved in these activities evaluate themselves?
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Keeping all the scientific findings away for a moment. Let us look at some of the social behavioral patterns in recent time. Intolerance, racism, terrorism, stereotyping are some of the keywords that we find quite commonly in the news and the social media. Someone somewhere has made a racist comment, whereas someone has bombed a place of worship. Rapes and molestations have become weekly news. Now, the question arises: How do the people involved in these activities evaluate themselves? One might argue that some incidents can be impulsive, and can be provoked by factors like the length of girl’s skirt or what a specific religious leader might have said, or how a child has been raised.
In every man-made incident that endangers the safety and security of other people, there lies a person who evaluates it to be “normal and necessary.” Every person who is reading about that on the internet is evaluating that incident based on their own knowledge and experiences. So, if a certain country shoots down some “enemy” soldiers at the border, the patriots of this country will rejoice and evaluate it as an act of self-protection and to be “normal and necessary.” Contrarily, the victim nation will call it an act of violence, instigation or even may see it as a challenge to strike back. Our perception towards any societal event is based on our evaluation of it. Therefore, some girl highlighting the futility of war in the wake of her father’s death is trolled in social media and at the same time, someone else normalizes homicide and rape.
It has been debated and will continue to be so in the distant future about what is wrong or right, but no matter how moral or noble a decision may seem, it may never be unbiased. It’s not because people lack certain cognitive functions, it’s just that “evaluation” and subsequent decision making is always based on what they know. So, next time before jumping to conclusions, take a moment to think about where you are standing and try to observe without evaluation and see if that’s possible.
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Photo credit: Getty Images
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