Power of Emotion with Biases - Luka Novick

Power of Emotions with Biases

Do not let you temper go. It’s another beautiful Friday night under the lights. It’s one of the biggest rivalry games in the state. They had been running their mouths all week about the game because they think they’re going to win. They’ve seen on game film that you had a short temper and they were going to try to abuse that to get any type of advantage that they could. Everyone’s emotions were high in this game because it was win or go home situation for both teams. They’re going to run their mouths, they’re going to try to set you off; cheap shots, shit talking, getting in your face. They’re going to talked about your girl, and you, and your team and probably the worst, they’re going to talk about your mom. They want you to lose your temper and do something you’ll regret but you can’t give them what they want because you know what will happen to you. They’ll test you and test you until… “BOOM” You blew up, they got in your head and you retaliated. He got in your face and put your mom’s name in his mouth and that is the last straw. Before you hear anything else, you had enough. “You cracked that kid!” “That was crazy man!” Yeah, your friends thought it was cool, but you let your team down and you will forever regret your decision. You let your temper take control and now you’re ejected from the game and nobody is mad at you except yourself. You’re mad because you know they won the mental battle over you and your family and your coaches are disappointed in you for resorting to that. Now you must make that lonely trip into the locker room and sit in there the rest of the game waiting for your team to come in not knowing until then how the game ended but you must stay positive because at this moment you feel as though you have hit rock bottom but once you hit that point, there is nowhere left to go except up.



I chose to take my portrait in a place that means a lot to me and can relate to my piece very well. I chose to take this picture in this place because it has helped me improved myself both mentally and physically. I chose the outfit I did because it is one of my favorite outfits to wear to workout in. I chose to take this picture in the weight rack because it is where I can go to get away from my problems and zone out the world for a little bit. The barbell behind me represents the work I put in when nobody is watching and that no one knows about because sometimes that stuff is best kept to yourself. The rack itself is bright red. This red humbles me and reminds me of my beginnings coming from Lisbon home of the Lions, a town with only about 1,500 to 2,000 people at the time. I learned so much and had some of my best memories there. Finally, the lighting in the picture has a very special meaning. I made it dark with a little bit of light surrounding me and a little on the rack just beside me. This shows that there are going to be rough and dark times but there is always a light at the end of the tunnel and sometimes it will take hard work and dedication to get through those dark times. Just like in the story: he’s going through a rough time and he just needs to brush it off and move on and stay positive because once you hit the bottom, there’s nowhere left to go except up.



When it comes to biases, everyone has them whether they know it or not. The majority population believe that they don’t have any biases because they feel like they are going to be scolded because of them. Yes, biases are something we don’t want to admit we have however we must admit to them because sometimes admitting to yourself and coming to terms with them can help you see past them and look at the bigger picture. Biases change our perspectives on everyday things. I feel like we can change our biases if we really want to.

In the TED Talk “How do we overcome bias? Walk boldly toward them” Verna Meyers talks all about biases. Early in the speech she said, “Biases are stories we make up about people before we even know who they are (Meyers).” This statement really made me think because it is a very true statement when you try to think of any common biases about someone. If you think about the common bias that she refers to that everyone prefers a male driver in tense situations or just most situations over a female driver. These biases have been planted in us since we were children because they are carried down for generations. She talks about how we need to work to break away from these biases and we need to stop just being a bystander to them and take a lead to stop them. We could get pasts these biases by getting people more involved in the roles that people believe they don’t belong in to show them that they can do it.

In another TED Talk I watched called “Are you biased? I am.” Kristen Pressner gave a speech about bias and how we all have them and gave us a way to look past them. In the end of her speech she says, “If we all started to flip it to test it, we might just be surprised at how often we would choose to behave differently (Pressner).” Her method is the flip it to test it method. It is basically putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. You take a situation for instance the stereotypical qualities of a guy and of a girl and then you flip the genders for the sets of qualities. If they look weird or out of place to you, then you need to check yourself. This method in my opinion is the best one I’ve heard of because if you put yourself in that person’s position and you don’t like the results, then you probably should treat them with more respect.

After listening to all these different people talk about biases and hearing the different methods and things we need to change to get rid of them, I do believe that we can get rid of biases for the most part, all it takes is a little bit of time. Research shows that everyone has biases and the truth is that we will never get rid of them fully, but we can stop some of the big ones by getting more involved and enlightening those people who are strongly bias and by using the flip it to test it method. Back to my flash fiction piece, I have a bias for my team over any other team and will do whatever I have to do for us to win and I would’ve chosen to not fight if i could go back on it because I don’t believe that that is a good way to resolve anything. That is one example of a bias that won’t ever change but it is not a bias that will hurt or offend anyone unlike some race and gender biases. I have started to use the flip it to test it method just recently in some smaller bias situations just to see how I feel about it and it really does make you think and kind of connect with your emotions because it makes your understand how they must feel with everyone against them just because of some bias that got started centuries ago. I will continue to try to get rid of the biases within me and I hope everyone else can do the same.