Listen up.

Got a piece of paper and something to write with? Here’s a little exercise you might find interesting. This will be quick, so you’ll have to pay attention.

I’m going to say ten words. You’ll get five seconds to write down the first thing that comes to mind when you hear each word. Don’t worry. Your answers are for you only.

  1. America

  2. Guns

  3. Love

  4. Fear

  5. Freedom

  6. Beautiful

  7. Black

  8. Illegal

  9. Flag

  10. Christian

You might be surprised by your first reactions. I’m betting that what you thought of first gives a pretty good hint of your perspective…and beliefs. The fact is, these words can mean very different things to different people. No wonder we’re having a hard time talking about them!

Ready for another round? Try the full list of 30 words here…

Round 2: Who Me? Biased?

Remember. What you write down is the first thing that comes to mind, not an answer that you write after thinking about it. Nobody else needs to know what you wrote…unless you want to share your thoughts.

Do your thoughts require more explanation or revision before you speak up… argue…or vote?

See if any of these words shed any more light.

11. Government

12. God

13. Liberal

14. Racist

15. Criminal

16. Muslim

17. Sex

18. Leader

19. Republican

20. Democrat

Round 3: What Do We Mean?

21. Liar

22. Homosexual

23. Socialism

24. Unfair

25. White

26. Those people

27. Corporation

28. Courageous

29. Stupid

30. Respect

Do some of these make you squirm? Get angry? Feel comfortable or uncomfortable when you find out other people’s answers?

This list could be much, much longer. The challenge is for each of us to figure out what our “knee-jerk” responses can reveal to ourselves and others.

Like it or not, our deep-set biases—“good,” “bad,” or ugly--may take a good deal more work before we can settle our differences.