I have coined a potentially useful new expression: comatose bias. We are told that one of the great problems in the world today is ‘unconscious bias’, and so I think it’s time to ask: how unconscious? Let’s imagine (difficult though it is) that I am unconsciously biased right now; if I was put into a medically induced coma following an accident would I still be biased? I presume so. Which highlights the absurdity of claiming that bias can be anything but conscious. Perhaps we should start promoting the idea of comatose bias as a reductio ad absurdum demolition of the ‘unconscious bias’ tag?