After reviewing the four social bias / errors I would say I am most affected by the “
One of us or them “ error. This is because although I am always open to the diversity
of today’s culture I do tend to classify people I interact with as either they are like
me or are similar to a group I would not like to associate with often. To me I see this
bias kind of like when people say you shouldn’t get involved with the wrong crowd it
may not necessarily be that they are a wrong crowd , it’s just they are a different
crowd. Though, I wouldn’t say I would be disrespectful to them I always try my very
best to treat everyone with respect. To overcome this bias I am trying to stop placing
people in categories , instead I feel I should be more open to learn more about the
person and what is so different about them, and it may not be much different at all.
One fallacy that I have experienced and seen many times is in sales marketing. One
example is cell phone companies always advertising free phones to persuade you to
go into the store to supposedly get your free phone , in reality once you are there
you discover all these hidden fees such as phone taxes, activation fees or you have
to buy one to get one free. This is so misleading just to manipulate you to actually go
and spend money. Critical thinking skills comes into play when you have to analyze
the info , find out more information before falling into this trap. The topic that is
interesting to me is how some fallacies can be so powerful in persuading you to do
something if you don’t use your critical thinking skills and analyze the information
given!
