People, like amplifiers, are biased.
In an amplifier, the bias means we've turned on the circuit in a specific direction in anticipation of the signal. This, as opposed to no bias—where the circuit is off until there is a signal present—is a much more welcoming approach. The circuit is on and as soon as the signal appears there is a ready and welcoming space for it to grow and build into a musical output.
In people, bias works somewhat the same way. Perhaps we're biased towards wanting to listen to music as reproduced by a high-performance audio system. We're anticipating great sound to come through those speakers. We're ready and welcoming for that wonderful musicality. And if that's what we get then life's good.
Unless we don't.
Whatever the result of our listening experience, it's our bias that sets the stage for our expectations.
Let's imagine we're biased in the opposite direction. That we believe that all musical reproduction sounds the same. In this case, we're likely to discard any evidence to the contrary because it doesn't fit in with our bias.
In people as well as amplifiers it's beneficial to be aware of one's bias.
It helps us understand the results of what we get.
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