Home
>
Positive Attitude Tips
>
Becoming Excellent: Outsmarting Racism

Becoming Excellent: Outsmarting Racism

Thinkers know better than to be racist. It's generally understood that racists are, well, not thinkers. It's not that racists are necessarily stupid--it's that they are ignorant.

We like to think that racists are choosing to hang on to their bias because they don't know any better. Those of us who are educated--or who think--can overcome any bias through information and intention. Right?

Tell that to our brains.

A recent study done at Dartmouth College presents some interesting ideas about racism and the brain. According to the widely published results of this research, racism can actually cause stupidity. Even professors from esteemed universities like Stanford are quoted as saying such things as "Racism really does make people stupid."

Well, that makes for an interesting sound bite, but it's a bit misleading. Here's what happened: white test subjects with a bias against black faces performed poorly on a cognitive skills test after being interviewed by an African American person. The more biased the subjects were (based on their scores on the Harvard implicit association test), the worse they did.

What's fascinating about this study is that it is the first to show through magnetic resonance imaging that there is a particular area of the brain associated with efforts to say or do the right thing. This "executive control" portion of the brain showed increased activity during both the implicit association test and the interview. Those who had scores indicating a greater bias showed the most activity in their brains in this area as they struggled to refrain from making racist choices or offensive remarks. As this poor little section of the brain was overloaded, subjects were temporarily unable to perform thinking tasks.

So, really, the compelling notion here isn't simply that racism makes you stupid. It's that the presence of someone about whom we feel a bias affects our ability to think. If you live in a fairly homogenous community, your bias--and the "executive control" part of your brain--isn't really tested. However, if on a daily basis you interact with people toward whom you have a racial bias, your thinking becomes impaired, at least temporarily.

What does this mean long term? Are racist individuals in integrated communities "dumbed down" because their overtaxed brains can't cope? Is there a cumulative effect? A whole lot more research needs to be done to learn more about this.

No intelligent person wants to acknowledge that they may have a bias in terms of race. We know in our minds that it is unfair, unwarranted, and detrimental to have a negative view of someone on the basis of race. We also know it's politically incorrect. We like to think we're smart enough to outwit any insidious form of racism that may be lurking in the back of our brains.

Well, our brains don't know that. These tests measure what's going on in our brains, not what we want to have going on. The results can be quite shocking.

The good news is that there's a part of our brains that is trying to behave properly! This study was done with educated, intelligent, fairly progressive white students at Dartmouth College. Though it isn't mentioned in the report, it's likely that these students didn't consider themselves racist. What happens if the same study is conducted with those who readily admit their prejudice?

If we know better, and we want to avoid being racist, how do we go about doing so? We assume that more contact with individuals of other races will help us overcome our prejudices, but that sometimes backfires. Integrated communities are rarely racism-free. Contact doesn't eliminate racism--greater understanding and positive relationships do.

Think about your brain and your own bias regarding race. The first step is to be honest: virtually every single person on the planet has a racial bias of some kind. The next step is to take a test to find out for yourself where you stand.

And then? What next?

We learn racism. We know enough about the brain and how it works to recognize that whatever we learn we can also unlearn.

Absorb everything you can about other ethnicities and cultures. Read, travel, see movies, listen to music, try new foods--do everything possible to develop a voracious curiosity and robust enthusiasm for people of all races. Stimulate your brain in an effort to render that "executive control" area irrelevant.

Train your mind while building relationships with individuals of other races. Outsmart your brain's racism by becoming colorblind.

Thinkers know better than to be racist. The challenge is to free our brains of lingering doubts. Immerse yourself in the richness of the world. It'll make you smarter--and more excellent--in every way.

About The Author

Maya Talisman Frost is a mind masseuse. Her work has inspired thinkers in over 70 countries around the world. She serves up a satisfying blend of clarity, comfort and comic relief in her free weekly ezine, the Friday Mind Massage. To subscribe, visit http://www.massageyourmind.com.

http://www.massageyourmind.com

house refresh service Morton Grove ..

In The News:

Carnegie Mellon's noninvasive brain technology allows users to move robotic fingers by thinking about the motion, offering new possibilities for people with motor impairments.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) adds an extra layer of protection to your accounts. Instead of relying only on a password, MFA requires you to verify your identity using two or more methods.

Scientists from Duke, Harvard, and the University of Otago have unveiled a game-changing tool called DunedinPACNI. It uses a single AI brain scan to reveal how fast a person is biologically aging.

A disturbing wave of fake agent phone scams is sweeping across the United States, catching people off guard and draining their savings.

Emojis aren't just playful add-ons; they're powerful tools for building stronger connections in our increasingly digital world.

Google has taken a major step toward the future of clean energy by partnering with Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), an MIT spin-out working to build one of the world’s first commercial fusion reactors.

If you create and share art online, you might have seen messages warning that Facebook's parent company, Meta, claims the right to use or even sell anything you post, whether it's pictures, poems, or artwork.

Cybercriminals hit Qantas in a major data breach that exposed information from up to six million customers.

Having reliable, loud, and timely emergency alerts on your phone or device is important because when severe weather strikes, every second counts.

Here's how your daily brew is becoming the foundation for greener buildings.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, are transforming how we learn. But what does this mean for AI and learning retention?

Modern AI data centers use much more electricity than traditional cloud servers. In many cases, the existing power grid cannot keep up. One innovative solution is gaining traction: repurposed EV batteries for AI data centers.

Microsoft 365 and Outlook users are being targeted by a tactic that injects fake billing alerts directly into their calendars.

Researchers are now showing us that old smartphones as data centers could be the next big thing in sustainable tech.

Scientists have created micro-robots for sinus infection treatment that can enter the nasal cavity, eliminate bacteria directly at the source, and exit without harming surrounding tissue.

Let's examine how your data is collected in everyday life, who is buying and selling it, what happens to it afterward, and, most importantly, what you can do to protect yourself.

Researchers at the University of Sheffield in the U.K. developed small robots called "Pipebots" that can travel inside water pipes to find and potentially repair leaks, all without any excavation.

A groundbreaking new study has uncovered disturbing AI blackmail behavior that many people are unaware of yet.

Four teams of autonomous humanoid robots competed in China's first AI soccer tournament, demonstrating advanced capabilities in ball detection and independent decision-making.

The ID. Buzz autonomous van features self-driving technology with 13 cameras, nine LiDAR units and five radars after Volkswagen partnered with Hamburg and Uber for 2026 deployments.

Social Security phishing scams use urgency and impersonation to steal personal data. Learn how to spot fake SSA emails and implement 10 protective measures.

French startup Pazzi Robotics created an AI-powered pizza robot that made pies in under five minutes without human help, but it closed in 2022 despite patents and expert partnerships.

Reclaim your time from big tech with effective screen time reduction strategies for iPhone and Android, featuring steps to limit app usage and create phone-free zones.

Amazon Prime Day shoppers face threats from 120,000-plus scam websites as cybercriminals prepare phishing traps and malware ahead of the July sales event.

Fox News' AI Newsletter brings you the latest on this rapidly evolving technology.

Becoming Excellent: Outsmarting Racism

Positive Attitude Tips