Chris Lisle

The Unconscious Bias of a Trial Attorney Chris Lisle

Unconscious Bias is the original sin of mankind. It is bequeathed from one generation to the next, blinding each of us to the truth. As a trial attorney, I've tried to root out biased jurors, but what about rooting out the biases within myself? Everything I possessed, whether in body or in spirit, was given me, from the color of his eyes to a character born of his experiences with others, through others. Even the nature of my thoughts are not my own, they are simply the accumulation of discarded, incomplete philosophies, religions, rhymes and reasons of countless others, for "there is nothing new under the sun", not even my own thoughts or fears. I was bequeathed all my being; the byproduct of a long line of untraceable history, of unknown ancestry, his thoughts. I was my father's child, but he is gone now, and I am now forced to look into the mirror of my soul and ask "Who are you?"