The Delve Discourse

The not so hidden existence of Bias:

Disclaimer: This is the first article from the unspoken narrative series, where I will be sharing my unfiltered thoughts and opinions on various issues. Note: I did not use AI (GPT in particular) to create this document. It's all from my head, unless of course I be AI😂😂

“In a digital landscape where we unlock and demystify the hidden tapestry"

Scratch that (I was trying to use GPT to generate this article but I'm scared of AI detectors flagging my article)😂😂

If you're active on Twitter, then I'm sure that you know about the delve matter and Paul Graham, the founder and owner of Y-Combinator, one of the most popular venture capitals in the world alongside Techstars etc where they offer funds and training for startups. Notable startups such as Chowdeck, Anchor etc have gone through YC. 

The tweet that started it all

Outside of all of the serious talk, which I'll delve into in this article (you must see what I did there😂), I really love how Nigerians took up the whole matter the same way we carried AFCON on our heads.

Nothing was sweeter than the tweets that went like:

“Americans: Says something 

Nigerians: Says the same thing but with more flowery euphemism.”

Like look at this:

And this:

And this beautiful clip:

Outside of all the banter and funny tweets, it was important to see intellectual discourse on the TL. It all stemmed from the fact that Paul G was a top leader in the VC space, but because of his bias against the word “Delve”, we saw in real-time the negative consequences of bias and how it narrows one's thinking and affects access to opportunities. Like from this tweet below

This was very evident when a certain Paul’s subsequent tweets showed us in real-time the narrow minded superiority based bias that most Americans have simply because of the fact that they're White and the world sorta revolves around them (Galileo Galilei sorry Nicolaus Copernicus would be sad)

From most interactions, I could pick out the undiscussed existence of Bias and how data plays a funny role in all of that.

So in this article, we would be looking closely at Bias, what it actually is, and how we can overcome it.

What is Bias?

When we talk about bias, I like to use the glass filter analogy.

Imagine bias as a coloured glass filter, you know someone wearing pink tinted glasses would see the world with a shade of pink, that is entirely different from someone with blue tinted glasses. It works the same way that Hollywood movies use the yellow filter to describe Mexico by tinting the way the atmosphere looks like making us assume their atmosphere has a dash of orange.

Now the thing with bias is that it causes us to have a skewed view on how we judge the world, simply because our perception of the world is tinted. Because if i am wearing a red filter, everything is going to appear red, and i might miss the stop sign on the traffic light because of my shades.

In that manner, bias can be defined as the tendency to favour one thing, person, or group over another, often without considering the evidence or facts objectively. It basically puts your mind on a see-saw, but you are more tilted to one side as opposed to the ideal state of being in the middle. I do not think Bias is bad, cause again you are wired to favour some things over the other because of the concept of determinism (philosophical theory that all events are predetermined by a chain of prior causes. In simpler terms, everything that happens is inevitable due to a sequence of cause-and-effect relationships.), but it becomes a problem when there are clear negative consequences of your skewed thinking and you are not willing to acknowledge and improve your thinking (as shown by both Pauls)

After research, you come to realise that there are a lot of biases, but I would like to categorise them into two types for the sake of this article. Remember again that biases can impact our perceptions, decisions, and behaviour, albeit in different ways. The two types are:

1. Cognitive Bias: this type of bias stems from the way our brains process information, often influenced by our experiences, beliefs, and thought patterns. Examples of this type of bias include:

• Confirmation Bias: Preferring information that confirms preexisting beliefs or hypotheses.

• Availability Bias:  Estimating the likelihood of events based on how easily you can bring examples to mind

• Anchoring Bias: Relying too heavily on the first piece of information encountered when making decisions.

2. Social Bias: these are shaped by our interactions with others and the societal structures we are part of, such as cultural norms, social hierarchies, and group dynamics. Examples include:

• Implicit Bias: Unconscious attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions.

• In-group Bias: Favouring members of one's own group over those outside of it.

• Stereotyping: Assuming that individuals within a certain group share the same characteristics or abilities.

I am certain that outside of the delve conversation, we have had a lot of instances where we either were the victims of biased thinking (Tribalism in Nigeria) or engaged in biased thinking.

I want us to see how it often plays out in our lives.

How does it play out in our lives (our sexy relationship with bias) cue mental models:

A while back, I started reading up on system thinking and it opened my mind to a brand new way to think, especially when you realise that you are surrounded and interact with systems on a daily basis. The part of the lesson that directly relates to our discussion is called Level of perspective.

To summarise, we often look at things that occur everyday as singularities (Events) just the same way we might look at individual trees in a jungle, but if we look closely, we would realise that there are rules and patterns that govern these trees that make them come together to build a forest (that is why the ecosystem in the savanna is different from that in the Sahel). Again if you decide to look deeper, you realise that there is a system structure put in place that allows these patterns to form.

Overarching these systemic structures are the existence of Mental Models. Leaving the ecosystem, mental models are the assumptions, beliefs, and mindsets that shape how we interact with any system. These mental models influence the structures and ultimately the system's behaviour and interactions.

Remember that we look at bias as a glass filter then you realise that mental models are more like the colours on our glasses. These colours are like the beliefs, mindsets and assumptions that we have gathered over our existence on earth that end up tilting us to one direction.

So why all this shalaye (Yoruba for Explanation)? In the next topic we would look at one of the building blocks of mental models and how it played out in the “Delve discourse”

Bias and data.

If there was something interesting to see from the entire discourse it was the use of data. One thing that Paul Graham did was to add to his tweet showing a chart of the rise in the use of the world Delve:

While derogatory, the other paul said he does not want to have to do any business with Nigeria, because our GDP/capita is 1/70th of America’s. The thing with both their expression of their bias was how they justified their thinking because of the evidence of data.

In real-time, we saw Paul Graham’s interactions governed by confirmation and Availability bias, a type of cognitive bias, where he constantly interpreted the responses from Nigerians in a manner that validated his belief that the use of the word was a way to show muscle, and when he was confronted with contradicting data, my man dipped and selectively downplayed it. 

The presence of the chart above gave him the freedom to engage in availability bias, where the data in question did not represent the full picture as constantly iterated by a lot of comments explaining that the use of the word is not a true representation of people that use it in their daily interactions because of the standards they are held against and upbringing.

On the other hand, our other Paul just went nose deep into social bias, showing a variation of stereotyping. Judging the quality of work, and having a preconceived notion about Nigerians in general. While he tried masking his own bias via the GDP/capita statement, it was clear that his thinking was guided by the superiority mental model often shown by americans (it is not easy to be a world power)

How to tackle it and use it to your advantage.

I think we have made it clear that bias can significantly impact how we perceive and interpret events, especially when viewed through different lenses or filters. We saw how Paul’s bias to a great pitch influenced his decisions and perceptions thereby costing such a potential idea a longer time to actualise, while we figured out that perhaps a lot of our closed doors were not because of a lapse in our abilities or experience, but rather how bias was a hindrance to a lot of opportunities that could have been ours.

With things like this, there should be a way to identify and tackle biases whenever they spring up, so i would just share a few thoughts on how to tackle it whenever you see it happening:

1. Always be aware and remember to speak up: Recognize that bias exists and can influence perceptions and decisions. By acknowledging biases and being open to feedback, you take the first step to mitigate their impact. Then you take the second step by speaking up about it in a calm and collected manner.

2. Think Critically: We live in a world surrounded by data, so before you say or act in a discriminatory manner, take time to evaluate information and perspectives objectively. Do not forget that "If you torture the data long enough, it'll confess to anything." So ensure you consider alternative viewpoints and evidence before making judgments or decisions.

3. Use Empathy: It is important to be empathetic. Always seek to understand others' perspectives and experiences. Remember that the varying unique experiences end up being the building blocks of the mental models used to perceive the world.

4. Promote Continued Learning: When you witness bias, recognise it as an opportunity to teach and tilt your thinking and that of others, albeit slightly to the neutral side. Remember to be transparent in thinking and decision-making, or embrace diversity and inclusion. That way, the influence of bias can be mitigated.

By approaching decisions with awareness, critical thinking, empathy, and a commitment to diversity and inclusion, you can navigate bias more effectively and make decisions that are fair, equitable, and informed.

Closing banter

It is typically hard to close out articles like this, but here goes nothing.

We know now that biases are like tinted sunshades, and the only reason I would wear a sunshade is because I want to protect my eyes from the sun first, plus it’ll be fun seeing the world with a pink tint. But more often than not, we forget that we are all wearing tinted glasses and reactively call out to someone that is not seeing the world the way we are seeing it.

In the same manner, biases tilt our mind in a manner that makes it easy to think, because it is easier to act with a prejudice, than it is to critically evaluate one's thoughts and then act. But hey, to err is human, to forgive is divine (abi how dem talk am?😂). So we need to always be willing to lend a helping hand and make people be more conscious and aware of deliberate or unconscious biases that often have a lasting and negative outcome on the people at the tail end of decisions backed by said biases.

With all that being said, always remember to respond to issues objectively rather than reactively. It gives you enough time to simmer in your own thoughts and give out opinions that sound like they spent enough time in the oven before being displayed to the world, and be expectant of feedback.

Thank you for taking the first walk with me and reading my first baby in this series.

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PS: My existence is solely tied to your shares and comments, unless of course you want me to perish into nothingness, kindly share your thoughts, have an interesting discussion about the article, suggest more topics to write about and share it with your friends and family.

Till next time!!!!!!!!!

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