Hi, Jane - fascinating post about a subject I dearly love:)

Initial response:  Only THREE?

Thinking response:

Bias is a human condition and identifying our biases is essential to reducing or eliminating their negative impacts.  This is a timely issue whenever it comes up, but especially so during the political season and during times of social upheaval and change.  For individuals, becoming aware of and countering our personal biases is a life-long journey, methinks.

Simply knowing about biases and how they work is not enough.  We all probably know quite a bit about the dangers of smoking tobacco or texting while driving, but knowing in and of itself is not enough to create behavior change.

Over the years, I have taught, trained, facilitated, and coached ... and I can say with certainty that the three points you raise here are real and important.

I make a distinction between biases, prejudices, stereotypes, and discrimination which might be useful here:

Bias:   What you said above.  How we think about something which results in a preference.

Prejudice: The attachment of positive or negative quality to that bias, usually based on a very small example or portion of a group

Stereotype:  When you apply that positive or negative quality to an entire group without exception.

Discrimination:  When you act negatively or positively toward that group based on the above.

I use these distinctions to help people dig deeper around their own biases and where those biases may lead.   Including the idea that both positive and negative results can occur, all based on generalizations which may or may not be true, is often a real eye-opener:)

BTW, ending with a Viktor Frankl quote always results in a gold star bonus:).

John