The conceptualization of stereotypes and implicit bias as “mindbugs”  creates an interesting description of how bias impacts everyday life both on an individual and cultural level. First off, the idea retroactive inference and memory mindbugs are largely ignored when eyewitness accounts are considered for legal purposes is concerning. The trust that we have in others to be completely focused and able to remember at any given moment shows a flaw in relying on memory. It is not necessarily any individual’s fault that their mind has deceived them, but it still should be considered by the larger culture especially during trials. Furthermore, the distinction between white lies, colorless lies, and blue lies exposes how much of life is fabricated from lies. Of course each of these lies are told to make oneself or those around them feel better. But regardless of whether or not lying will protect someone, it is concerning how easily we let these little things slip out. Colorless lies that involved impression management intrigued me and made me evaluate both my own and those around me in how we manage our self image in different social or professional settings. These small mindbugs that are within ourselves are clearly linked to the larger development of societal stereotypes.

Stereotype threat and colorless lies seem to propose an interesting link. Hiding things from ourselves and managing who we appear to be leads to falling into the stereotypes of one’s given group. Whether it is gender stereotypes for a woman who is a stay at home mother or stereotypes of a different group, there is a great deal of intersectionality between the different mindbugs that we come across. How we counter these mindbugs is an ever present question for a society that is working to improve. I believe the method of just exterminating them oversimplifies how deeply rooted stereotypes are in individuals and in society. Of course removing the problem is the easiest answer, but it fails to consider all of the challenges that come with trying to demolish such a large and ubiquitous road block. I find the same issues with simply attempting to bypass mindbugs because again this is clearly a seemingly simple way to removed stereotypes from our thinking. However, it again is not that simple to just “outwit” the minbugs that have become so pervasive. I see the proposed numerical approach as the most realistic in solving the problem of mindbugs. This may simply be because I am a numbers person who likes to deal with facts and statistics, but ultimately I find it more challenging (though no impossible) for humans to ignore numbers as it is much harder to try and infiltrate them with outliers that justify stereotypes.