Labels can be very helpful like: ‘Poison-Harmful or Fatal if Shallowed’ or ‘Do Not Touch-Extremely Hot’. Besides warnings, labels assist us in identifying food ingredients, movie content, product capabilities, etc. Along with word and number labels, colors help us associate various products and/or classes of things; John Deere Green for instance is easily recognized throughout most of the world.

In this photo, grass and leaves are definitely green. So are the ball and Kermit the Frog. The flux welder and extension cord are green. This T-shirt is green (so are Shamrocks, usually!). The cucumber, Starbucks’ emblem, and stained glass butterfly are also green. What isn’t green is the box. However, if one were color-blind and simply took the message printed on the box as gospel, then the box is green.

Ahh…here, we come upon one example of a label with double meaning (not to be confused with “double entendre”). Although the box is a gray-beige color with near black lettering, the label states otherwise. Yet, we know the Green on the box is referring to recycled materials which, in turn, leave less of a carbon footprint on the environment. But how do we know this to be so?

Repetition, repetition, repetition…

Does repeating something over and over, especially in the public arena, make it true? This question is easily applied to any bias. Unfortunately, in our current culture, bias is causing a great deal of confusion and stress. We need less of both.