Travel and Empathy1/22/2020 Although implicit biases exist everywhere and inside everyone, there are ways to reduce them, just like what Colleen said. I believe there are many occasions where my implicit biases are reduced.
The work I have in Global Studies has helped me a lot. Specifically, I am extremely happy that I learned about Hans Rosling’s method. He uses real statistics to analyze global tread, which I think is the most reliable way to judge a country. The charts make me realize that some countries that I assumed to be the poorest or are wasting the most energy actually are not. From his video, I found out that the world is in a better place than I previously thought. Dollar Street teaches me a straightforward idea that poverty or prosperity is not a country: because there are always the richest and the poorest anywhere in the world. It definitely changes my perspectives in looking at some countries that I thought would be poor. I do not have that much involvement with my local community in the U.S., even though I wish to. However, my community in China does help me break down my bias. Because there is so much news in China about rude dog owners in the apartments who let their dogs run free in the buildings and hurt people, I was afraid of the dog owners in my apartment. However, they were extremely polite. While I was waiting for elevator, a woman with a big dog came and waited as well. When the elevator arrived, the dog owner did not follow me in the elevator but kept on waiting for the next elevator, and told me that she didn’t want her dog to scare me. From then on, I was no longer assuming that dog owners living in apartments are impolite. Among my travel experiences, the Jordan trip had the most influence on me. Before traveling to Jordan, I had little knowledge about the country, or Arabic culture in general. Even when I first arrived at Amman, and saw street food, I assumed that it would not be clean to eat. However, after we actually purchased the food before leaving Amman, I realized how delicious it was and how ridiculous I was. I learned that I should not judge things radically before I really understand or try them myself. Staying with a host family in Bedouin village made me form an intimate relationship with people, especially women there. After I returned to the U.S, everytime I see Jordan on the news, I just have the feeling of familiarity, and definitely paid more attention than before. When I went to see the movie Aladdin, Wadi Rum desert showed up and I was so proud.
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