Bias: Understanding the Human Condition in Relation to Attention

Bias teaches us something significant about the limited amount of attention we possess. We tend to focus on things that we value, but how do we determine what deserves our attention? This evaluation process occurs beforehand as we filter the world based on our values, rather than thoroughly evaluating every object or experience.

This preference for what we value leads to familiarity and a potential blindness to alternative perspectives, resulting in bias. Bias occurs prior to giving attention to an object, person, experience, or event. Additionally, bias can be influenced by our limited perspective, as we only see objects from one viewpoint at a specific moment, and people within certain situations and contexts. Our perspective provides an incomplete and skewed sample of data.

Furthermore, humans are meaning-making beings, attaching significance to our experiences. However, experiences don’t possess inherent meanings. For example, the feeling of anger depends on individual interpretation and varies among different people. There is no universal object or situation that universally produces anger. Each person interprets the situation differently.

The Bias Loop: Attention, Perspective, and Meaning Making

• Attention Level
• Perspective Level
• Meaning Making Level

This complete bias loop greatly impacts LLMs (Language and Learning Models).

First, LLMs operate through a mechanism known as ‘Attention’ (for a more detailed explanation, refer to the paper titled “Attention is all you need”).