We have introduced the concept of bias. Bias is a pretty complex idea and shows up in our everyday lives quite a bit. It also is present, as we mentioned when recruiting and interviewing. This activity is designed to introduce the feeling one gets when you recognize your biases have influenced your understanding of a situation.

Frederic Brown wrote short, short, short stories. One of our favorites is Sentry. Click below and listen. We have included a transcript below, as well. We have also removed the very end. Think about how you would end it. Post your ending(s) in the comments section. Be creative, be thoughtful. Here it is…

He was wet and hungry and cold and he was fifty thousand light years from home. He was on a damned planet he did not know. War never changes. After thousands of years it was still very easy for the pilots, high up in their shining spaceships with all their sophisticated weapons. After thousands of years it was still the ordinary soldier’s task, the infantryman, to fight the enemy and die in battle. The aliens were there too. The aliens, the only other intelligent race in the galaxy, cruel, horrible monsters. The first contact with the aliens took place in the centre of the galaxy, and war broke out immediately. They started to shoot; they did not try to negotiate or to make peace. Now the war continued, planet by planet. He was wet and hungry and cold; the fierce wind hurt his eyes. But the aliens were there, ready to infiltrate and all the positions were vital. He stayed alert, his gun ready. And then he saw one of them creeping towards him.