Both Uses of
bias
in
Moby Dick
- Though I cannot tell why it was exactly that those stage managers, the Fates, put me down for this shabby part of a whaling voyage, when others were set down for magnificent parts in high tragedies, and short and easy parts in genteel comedies, and jolly parts in farces—though I cannot tell why this was exactly; yet, now that I recall all the circumstances, I think I can see a little into the springs and motives which being cunningly presented to me under various disguises, induced me to set about performing the part I did, besides cajoling me into the delusion that it was a choice resulting from my own unbiased freewill and discriminating judgment.†
Chpt 1-3unbiased = without a personal preference; or without any tendency to move in a particular directionstandard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unbiased means not and reverses the meaning of biased. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
- I should like to conclude the chapter with the above appeal, but cannot, owing to my anxiety to repel a charge often made against whalemen, and which, in the estimation of some already biased minds, might be considered as indirectly substantiated by what has been said of the Frenchman's two whales.†
Chpt 91-93 *biased = created a personal preference; or creates a tendency to move in a particular direction
Definitions:
-
(1)
(bias) a personal preference -- especially a prejudice that prevents objective consideration
or:
any tendency to move in a particular direction -- such as a car that tends to want to swerve toward the right -
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) Specialized meanings of bias include:
- statistics: any of several errors that distort results
- textiles: a line or fold that is diagonal relative to the sides or grain of the fabric
- electronics: a steady-state current that is forced through an electronic device