Let Us Meditate About Bias

Noted philosophers and health experts Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Chopra launch a weight loss meditation challenge.

I saw The Oprah Winfrey Show only a few times, always while visiting.

One time, an activist showed a map of the world with the Southern Hemisphere on top, then hectored the audience with the usual pseudo profound accusations of bias. (But maybe, just maybe, the Northern Hemisphere should remain on top because there would be transition costs to turning the map upside down.)

To the best of my memory, no one asked Wile E. Activist, Super Genius why she used a flat map to represent an oblate ellipsoid and whether that might invoke some sort of bias self-contradiction. And no one stated that holding up a map at a talk show is a faulty measure of bias. Some might even call it a biased measure using a biased sample.

Another time, an attractive astrologer debated a physicist about the preposterous notions of astrology. The physicist had stage fright, and those present could barely contain their smirks.

But I won't judge Winfrey based on a small sample fallacy of two shows because that might be biased.