Just as we have always done in the past, Metropolis Management doesn’t just settle to promote our artists and their talents, we want to do more! To that end, so do our artists. With that in mind, all of us here, in partnership with Sailesh, the hypnotist you all know and love, are ready to take you through our next two part exclusive story. This story is going to be all about unpacking and defining what an Unconscious Bias is and how it affects people and our society. However, we won’t just stop there in our second part of the exclusive Sailesh will unpack how the practice of Hypnosis can help impact and diminish these Unconscious Biases we all have. So sit back, relax and enjoy this read. To begin you must understand the definition of Unconscious Bias. The term contains two words the first of which is Unconscious. According to Webster’s dictionary the literal definition is, “The part of the mind which is inaccessible to the conscious mind but which affects behavior and emotions.” Now that gets a little technical at times so we asked Sailesh to break it down and he defined it as, “The part of your mind to which you have no idea what it’s thinking nor can you control it, but it can affect what you do, say, think. and feel.” The next word in the term is Bias, and as defined in Webster’s dictionary, “Bias is a prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another.” It’s reasonable to assume we all knew what Bias meant, but it’s nice to clarify. So with the two individually defined, what are they put together? Sailesh answered this question by saying, “An Unconscious Bias is the thought of a particular stereotype, prejudice, action, or phrase you make toward something, that you unknowingly do out of reflex in a moment.” Knowing what Unconscious Biases are can help you understand what they do and the harm they contain. As defined again above by Sailesh it is the thought before what happens next. If you think about it in terms of reaction, an Unconscious Bias is the product of the equation. This product creates and causes harmful reactions known as microaggressions. Microaggressions are slight actions that are prejudice in nature, wrong in practice, and irritating and hurtful to the receivers. An example would be getting cut off in traffic and saying “Must be Asain or a Woman.” Or locking your car doors when driving past a neighborhood some refer to as the “ghetto.” These are hurtful, irritating, and are all too prevalent in our society and are caused by our different Unconscious Biases. Some of you may be asking the question, “How are these formed?” Of course it’s a question we asked Sailesh, and he said, “Often I believe they are formed from past experiences. From what we have seen, heard, or felt throughout our entire lives starting at what I would assume to be a very young age.” Sailesh is right that these problematic products do start at a very young age, and while the thought is to help kids avoid areas that increase their formulation, we have found and so to has Sailesh that this thought and attempt is to no end because they inevitably will form. Sailesh shared that, “It isn’t a hidden secret that given my skin color, place of birth, profession, and other factors that I have lived with Unconscious Bias and Microaggressions towards myself all my life. I’ll also not hide the fact that this reality is absolutely motivating my passion to impact and change this problem.” So, to what end can we change this problem? We know what an Unconscious Bias, we know that it causes dangerous microaggressions, we know they are inevitably formed, and on top of all of it know that they are uncontrollable, or so we think. Just as the future for this addressed issue may seem bleak we ask you to stay tuned for Part 2 on April 29th where Sailesh rolls out how hypnosis can provide huge aid in stopping this problem.