Neutrality is impossible.

I am biased. So are you. In fact, everybody is biased. There will always be something in the back of your mind that will push you in one direction or the other. It’s a simple characteristic of humanity.

I have gone to so many websites where people try to increase the value of their words by insisting that their opinions are unbiased. They might even provide a simple fact to prove their neutrality. If you go to any videogame website, for example, you will find numerous PlayStation diehards who have bought an Xbox as a secondary console. I wouldn’t doubt that some of these people purchased an Xbox purely for the sake of strengthening their arguments, but nobody should take them seriously as having neutral opinions.

Rather than ignore bias, I feel that’s it’s best to minimize the impact. If you have ties to a sports team, you should not be involved in the officiating of games involving that team (As you can tell, I still haven’t forgiven Mike Murphy). I can be opinionated at times, and I feel that I shouldn’t say, “I’m the most neutral person ever, so my comments should be taken as gospel.” Like I said, I’m biased. The least I can do is be honest about it. I try to compensate, but I also try not to over-compensate. Since bias is not a conscious decision, I certainly can’t match my bias perfectly to my compensation. At least I have enough sense to come clean.