[Music] [Applause] Hello. Good morning. I hope you've all had a pleasant day so far.Please rise, but don't actually. Court is now in session. Except today isn't about a crime.Well, not in the conventional manner at least. It is however about us and how we judge each other. Today I would like to draw attention to what is perhaps an uncomfortable truth about our propensity to act like judges without ever wearing the proverbial robes of authority.Don't we often hand out verdicts casually on what people wear, w ...

[Applause] Congratulations. You've just made the same mistake humans have been making for thousands of years. Believing life only gives you two options.From the moment we're born, society has been forcing us to pick a side. Be right or be wrong. win or lose, belong or be an outcast.But what if that's the biggest lie of them all. Because you see, life is not a coin toss. It's not a courtroom with only guilty or innocent.Life is complicated and it's layered. And yet here we are still shrinking it down to bina ...

First Impressions & Social Perception - The brain makes judgments about attractiveness and trustworthiness in just one-tenth of a second, which is four times faster than the blink of an eye [4] - The amygdala, a part of the brain, processes emotions and social cues, assigning emotional scores to people met within milliseconds [5] - Body language, including facial expressions, posture, and tone of voice, significantly impacts first encounters [7] - Confirmation bias causes the brain to cling to initial judgments, filtering subsequent information to fit that initial perception [9] - The primacy effect suggests that first impressions hold more weight than later interactions, potentially leading to missed opportunities for meaningful relationships [10] Improving Interpersonal Connections - Facial expressions, such as soft smiles and raised brows, communicate one's personality [11] - Upright posture enhances confidence and fosters trust [11] - Genuine smiles convey openness and willingness to connect [12] - Stillness, as opposed to fidgeting, projects focus, presence, and respect [13] - Engaging actively by nodding and leaning in during conversations builds connection more effectively than perfect sentences [13][14]

Research Findings - Analysis of 90,000 comments from 600 videos tagged with "black people" and "China" revealed that 10% were race-related, with 80% of those expressing negative sentiments [3] - Manual categorization of 2,000 comments highlighted recurring themes such as mockery/harassment of Chinese women in interracial relationships and the portrayal of Black people as criminal, stupid, and animalistic [3][4] - The research uncovered instances of racial slurs and calls for genetic purism within the online comments [4] Societal Context - Despite outward diplomacy and strong ties between China and African countries, the daily reception of Black individuals in China tells a different story [5] - Historical events, such as the 1988 protests and the 2020 COVID-related mistreatment of Black residents in Guangzhou, highlight underlying tensions [5][6] - The tragedy involving a Black American teacher and a Chinese student was twisted to support claims of inherent Black violence, clashing with the Black Lives Matter movement [7] Algorithmic Influence - Algorithms on platforms like Bilibili incentivize outrage and controversy, leading to the amplification of hateful and extreme comments [9] - The design of these platforms fosters negativity bias, echo chambers, and confirmation bias, contributing to the spread of hate [10] Solutions and Recommendations - Meaningful connection, rather than mere proximity, is crucial for changing prejudice [13] - There is a need for better policies that encourage cross-cultural dialogue, humanize individuals, and hold platforms accountable [13] - The report advocates for recognizing that racism is not solely a Western issue but exists within our own platforms and language [16]

Core Idea - The speech emphasizes the importance of unlearning outdated beliefs and habits to foster personal and professional growth [1][5] - It frames unlearning not as forgetting, but as a conscious choice to adopt new perspectives and challenge inherited assumptions [19] Key Steps to Unlearning - Willingness to learn new things by shifting mindset from "I may be wrong" to "they or something else may be right" [9][10] - Loosening grip on existing beliefs, holding them with open palms rather than clenched fists, allowing for modification [12] - Courage to ask "but why," challenging systems of thought and inherited beliefs to reshape societies [13][14][15] Obstacles to Unlearning - Confirmation bias, the tendency to seek information that confirms existing beliefs, even if untrue [6][7] - Difficulty in overcoming cognitive dissonance, the discomfort experienced when learning something that contradicts existing knowledge [8] Practical Applications - Unlearning in relationships, adapting how one loves or ending unhealthy relationships [16] - Unlearning self-limiting beliefs and scarcity mindsets in personal life, tracing their origins to external sources [16][17] - Unlearning in professional life, embracing new ways of thinking and working with emerging technologies like AI [17]

[Music] Hello everyone. Just to start off, you've already made a judgment about me. No, seriously, you did.Whether this is your first impression of me or if you see me around the hallways before I'm your friend or your classmate, you've made the whole picture of me. You decided who I am, whether I'm trustworthy, kind, brave, all of that. And you made that judgment under less than a second.Now, let's try something out. I'm going to show you a picture of two people, and I want you to decide for yourself witho ...

Core Argument - The presentation addresses the issue of information cocoons and echo chambers created by social media algorithms, which reinforce existing beliefs and limit exposure to diverse perspectives [1][2][3][4][5] - It emphasizes the negative consequences of these echo chambers, including isolation, disbelief, and the silencing of diverse voices, using the MeToo movement as an example [2][3] - The presentation advocates for breaking free from these echo chambers to foster understanding, empathy, and a more complete view of the world [6][11] Supporting Evidence & Statistics - A Tinua University study revealed that 57% (320 million) of 570 million users experienced increased feed personalization, blocking opposing views within one year [7] Proposed Solutions - The presentation introduces the "rule of three" as a practical method to combat information cocoons [8] - The first step involves taking control of one's digital space by turning off personalized recommendations [8] - The second step encourages questioning one's own consumption habits and sharpening media literacy [9] - The third step promotes actively shaping one's information feed by seeking out opposing viewpoints and verifying information from multiple sources [10]

Cognitive Biases & Perception - Perception acts as a lens through which we view reality, influencing choices, relationships, and overall reality [3][4] - The halo effect, a cognitive bias, causes initial impressions in one area to influence overall perception of someone [7] - Stereotypes, mental shortcuts based on race, gender, or background, lead to often inaccurate judgments [11][12] - Confirmation bias shapes interpretation of news, media, and experiences, reinforcing existing beliefs [26] Decision Making - Priming, where seeing or hearing something influences response, affects decision-making [15] - The mind uses two systems: System One (fast, intuitive) and System Two (analytical, problem-solving), with reliance on System One due to efficiency [16][17] - Heuristics, cognitive rules of thumb, can lead to systematic judgment errors, such as the availability heuristic and anchoring heuristic [17][18][19] Overcoming Biases - Questioning initial assumptions and giving people a second impression can help overcome biases [12][13] - Actively seeking new perspectives and questioning assumptions can help challenge confirmation bias [27] - Slowing down, questioning impressions and decisions, and seeking the entire picture are crucial for real understanding [29][30][31]