Study: Racism will make you stupid

[johnfunk]

To the litany of arguments against prejudice, scientists are now adding a new one: Racism can make you stupid.

That is the message of an unusual and striking new series of experiments conducted at Dartmouth College, with the help of brain-imaging equipment and a crew of undergraduate volunteers.

Finally! FReepers explained scientifically! Full article here!

[rogerashton]

1. Well, if you read it, it seems to say

that it is STRUGGLING AGAINST RACISM that makes the person stupid -- perhaps if they tried it in the south, where a lot of people are unashamed of their racism, they would get different results. I'm not going to draw the concusion that would suggest, though.

[Stuckinthebush]

2. This Alabamian has seen some of the worst displays of racism

in Boston.

That being said, racism is a national problem, not a regional one.

[WoodrowFan]

6. then why

then why are there so many more racist republicans in power in the South than in New England? I agree it's a NATIONAL problem, but I live in Virginia and it sure seems like repuk politicans here use racial coding a lot more than I saw back home in Ohio, or in my wife's home area (New England).

I am really not trying to create another south-bashing thread!

[Stuckinthebush]

9. I'm glad your not

trying to make a south-bashing thread, and I actually didn't think you were.

I want to point out, however, that while there are overt racist elements in the South, there are as many covert elements in other parts of the country. It is easy to write off the Democratic problem in the South as being due to racism and Republican's use of racially coded message, however, there is more to it than this. True, the Republican Party gained a foothold in the South due to Nixon's racist strategy, however, the Republicans have changed that strategy since Reagan to be more of an appeal to fundamental Christianity than to racism. I have asked a number of white Southernors why they vote Republican against their better interests, and I have never, ever heard the race reason - it is always "they are good Christians". Now, I am a very white man who can pass for a Republican. If race was an issue, then other white people would tell me in so many words. I'm not saying race doesn't play a part, but it is not as large as you would think.

Just a Southern guy's opinion.

[Fovea]

10. Yesterday in KC

An asshole in a pickup assaulted my G/F and I while riding our bikes. When I confronted him. He called me a 'nigger lover' as the worst insult his little cpu could generate from his random filth generator...

I agree, it is a national problem, it is more institutionalized in the south, I think, but it festers everywhere, even more since 911.

[Stuckinthebush]

11. Excellent example

It is a national problem. It is an educational problem.

I'd imagine that those with more eduation are less likely to react in racists ways. We need to ensure that all Americans have access to higher education.

[WoodrowFan]

15. Good Point (NT)

[mediaman007]

3. This explains a lot.

It explains why beat reporters, who seek out the sources in many unpleasant places, tend to be liberal. It explains why public school teachers, who deal with poor, disenfranchised and English as a second language, tend to be liberal. It explains why nurses tend to be liberal.

It also explains why the conservatives want to dumb down education. Too much access to a wide range of thinking and writing make for a very liberal or progressive person.

[Rich Hunt]

19. that explains it

That explains all of the conservativism and rank snobbery that comes out of our nation's universities, then.

[CO Liberal]

4. Case In Point: Free Republic

:-)

[bemildred]

5. Racism IS stupid.

They have the cause and effect backwards.

[TahitiNut]

13. While I agree, I believe the study indicates something far more ...

... interesting. This study isn't correlative; it's consequential. If it can be attacked, it would be only on the basis of 'post hoc ergo propter hoc' -- yet most such controlled studies are probably vulnerable to this in some degree.

I see something else entirely. We have (learned?) emotional responses to stimuli which can be loosely partitioned into the 'anticipatory' categories of 'fearful' and 'excited' -- the ways in which we frame our exposure to new or unusual experiences. When we react with fear, we tend to shut down our awareness of all else -- putting on emotional blinders. Conversely, when we react with excitement, we tend to expand our awareness, gathering more and expanding our awareness. These have a direct and understandable impact on the way in which we process information. Scared people don't learn.

As a former teacher, this seemed to me to be the most evident indicator of student performance. Those who treated new information and experiences with interest and excitement tended to lear quite rapidly. Those who treated information and experiences with fear and trepidation seemed to impose a handicap on their own mental processes -- burdening those congnitive processes with the almost-obsessive refrains of "I can't".

I've noticed this in my own learning. When I'm in a positive frame of mind (not worrying or guilt-ridden), I tend to acquire new information far more easily than when I allocate some small portion of my attention, reserving the rest for fearful thoughts.

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" is a far more pithy observation than I once thought.

[bemildred]

16. Well said.

'post hoc ergo propter hoc' is approximately the essence of my complaint.

Statistical methods are used in far too cavalier a fashion in regard to
most of these "studies", when it comes to drawing conclusions that
we are all supposed to conform to. The underlying mathematical methods
do not support the way these sorts of results are commonly used.

Fear makes you stupid. This is why it is so popular with politicians
and advertisers and the like. It is an excellent rule of thumb to
assume that anyone who trys to instill strong emotions like fear in
you (or hate or anger or greed or lust) is not your friend.

What I find interesting here is that the bigots are afraid to
have their biases bandied about in public. One wonders why? It could
be that they wish to protect them from the inevitably conflicting
brushes with reality, e.g. the obviously superior member of the
discriminated against class. It could be that bias has itself
become discriminated against enough in normal public discourse that
they feel the need to hide it.

I tend to favor the latter in this case.

[Ernesto]

18. Leave the "enter" key alone

[bemildred]

21. No.

[Gman]

31. Most excellent post. Very insightful and it explains a lot

Personally, I hated Math in grade school and high school. However, I always had the ability. I just had this fear of Math (probably brought on by the nuns that taught it) so I convinced myself I wasn't very good at it.

Years later, in retrospect, I realized I had the ability and let myself become interested in Math. That was when I completed my Masters degree in Business. My undergrad was a Math-less Political Science.

[PATRICK]

7. I'd say bad tought

is worse than stress for the mind. I can't speak for their physical health, although they seem to flourish with the aid of stolen money. Anyone who engages in aggressive violence in thought systems depending on lies short circuits whatever inelligence(besides the tattered logic constructs, how can they tie their own shoes?)they once had. This explains the degeneration and inbred unoriginality of radical conservative discourse.

They cannot be remembered for anything at this rate, as much as they like to cherry pick "classic" thinkers of the past who would generally abhor and disain contact with their exploitive fans. This is fortunately why evil does not flourish completely. The mere attrition of brain cells allows the better part of humanity to survive. This phenomenon was noted years ago by Goleman and the Buddhists in conference concerning "destructive thought" and what it does to the mind. This Dartmouth experiemnt may be a followthrough examining the physical evidence of those observational insights.

[WoodrowFan]

8. Have you ever noticed

have you ever noticed how ofter racist graffiti is mispelled??

[emad]

12. Dupe I think:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=117&topic_id=1337

[Lorien]

14. Thanks for posting this!

I sent it on to my 61 year old father who never was a racist in his thirties but has recently become Archie Bunker! I hope it serves to make him think twice before making anymore blanket statements about other races.

[SharonAnn]

26. Two of my friends suddenly espoused racist views and I found

it very troubling since I had known them for over 20 years and had not ever known them to espouse racist thoughts. Within two years they were both diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease - one of them was 51 years old at the time and the other was about 68.

As a recovering alcoholic, I have found that my views were very rigid, black-and-white, either/or type, us versus them type thinking when I was an active alcoholic. As a recovering alcoholic (18 years now) I have found that my thinking tends to be much more nuanced, more shades of gray, more tolerant, more seeking understanding than before.

It's my theory that substance abuse (which causes brain activity changes) and Alzheimer's Disease are sometimes components or even causes of racist and right-wing thinking.

Just my two cents.

[Oberst Klink]

17. I have lurked on the freepers board and

their discourse is much more civilized (generally) than what is found here.

I think we have a lot of younger people here at DU resulting in some inprudent posts which don't reflect well on progressives.

The hate that is, at times, displayed here is especially disturbing.

Again, I hoped this is merely a function of angstful youth (I was much the same in my younger days).

[Stuckinthebush]

20. Surprising

I have rarely seen civilized discourse over there, but that is your opinion.

I'd like to know what specific hateful reactions you have witnessed here that eclipse the vitrol spewed over at FR. Besides our almost universal disgust and even hatred of Mr. Bushes policies and those of neo-cons dedicated to enhancing those policies, what specifc instances of hate have you seen?

Thanks.

[Oberst Klink]

23. It's not the hatred of his beliefs

people here really hate Mr. Bush and the neo-cons.

It's just plain hate. This kind of poison only hurts the person who spews it.

I am also progun (as is Dean). On this board, there are some resident DUers who go straight to name calling (racist, ignorant backwoods, etc) instead of discussing the facts.

[BlackFrancis]

25. boo-hoo

Poor GW Bush :eyes:

Some gun grabber pissed you off and you are going to turn into some hippie, whiny, "can't we all get along" character and want sympathy?

I've been on too many boards and told too many times to do various sexual acts upon myself or some tyrant they imagine I secretly support to believe that bullshit about how rational and easygoing conservatives are.

[Oberst Klink]

27. Sex acts?

How come I never get those???

That's another issue that makes me different here.

Don't bus kids. Bus horny women!

[Stuckinthebush]

32. I would contend that the hate is sometimes justified

But of course, we could get into a spiritual discussion about the evils of hate.

Nevertheless, the hate you do see here is hate for actions that do damage to the powerless. People hate Bush and his policies because of his disregard for human life as evidenced in Iraq, for his disregard for civil liberties, for his disregard for programs aimed at the disadvantaged children and adults, and for his blatant disregard for the health and fiscal well being of our nation. These actions do result in intense dislike and even hate from the youngest to the oldest. But in a way, that hate is justified because it is directed at a man that has ultimate power given to him to do whatever the hell he wants, and what he wants hurts many people.

The other hate you see here is hate toward overt racism, sexism, and homophobia. You have many, many critical theorists here who have spent their lives critically analyzing the world in which we live, and who deeply understand the social forces at play that make some citizens more important than others. The hate you see toward the "isms" is also justified because those "isms" tear down and destroy otherwise good, hard working individuals. Those "isms" are usually displayed by individuals who have been given social power either through their race, gender, class, and/or sexuality. The hate is directed at these individuals who refuse to acknowledge their social position, and who continue to marginalize segments of our society for no other reason than the color of their skin, their lack of certain genitalia, their lack of money, or their preference for same sex partners. If evil has a face, it can be seen in those who overtly display these prejudices. The Republican Party has traditionally stood for these objects of our disgust and hate, and so also becomes a target for our disgust and hate.

Contrast that with many over at conservative boards like the Free Republic. While I will not lump all conservatives in a bag together, the individuals at that particular location are full of hate as well. Their hate, however, is reserved for different people or causes. Their hate is directed at those who are not white, upper-middle/upper class, and heterosexual. In many instances, you also see a disregard and even hatred of women and women's issues by these individuals. I have also seen numerous instances of hatred for any religion that is not Christianity. This type of hate is a hatred of difference - a hatred of those that would seek to change the status quo. Traditionally, the Democratic Party has stood for the objects of their hate, so of course, the Democrats are then also objects of hate.

While I would agree with you that hate is poison, let us not be naive - hate is part of humanity. In our instance, I would say that hate can be cathartic because it allows those here to express their anger and sense of powerlessness over a callous, indifferent administration that represents all that we despise. Our expressions of hate are releases of frustration that our beautiful country is being ruined by ignorant rich men.

So, yes...there is hate. This can be seen as a sign of the decline of our society, or it can be seen as a sign of the intense emotions of our time. Some here and at FR see the hate as a game. They will cross over enemy lines to infiltrate the boards in order to play childish games with those that hate their beliefs. In the end, this does no good because we aren't in dialog with one another. The hate will build and fester. But frankly, I don't see much hope of reconciliation at this time, anyway. There are too many actions on the neo-con side that continue to destroy all that we hold dear. Similarly, the FR folks see a continued assault on their beliefs and have no desire to come to a middle ground. So it continues. But, in the end, I must say that I feel that my disgust and hatred of the policies of this administration are morally justified due to the pain and suffering caused by those same policies.

[bspence]

28. I've found that too.

But there might be some other reasons for this.

1) FREEP is set up differently than DU.
2) We're larger than FREEP (I think). The larger the audience, the greater the differences in opinions.

[Solly Mack]

22. I've always suspected as much

there is now way a person can be both racist and intelligent-just no way.

[BlackFrancis]

24. you have to define racism

Eugenic theory is to my mind the clearest racist idea that has ever been offered. It's original backers: John D. Rockefeller, Cecil Rhodes, Andrew Carnegie and Henry Ford were by no means stupid men.

Eugenics was big in America with Woodrow Wilson being an avid believer and practitioner of racial hygiene through public policy. The best and brightest of the day all were big believers and to this day you find otherwise intelligent people.

The German people in the age of Hitler were widely considered to be the most cultured and educated people on the planet and this idea was implemented on a gruesome scale. I don't think it has anything to do with stupidity. I think stupid people are more likely to be racist, but it's very possible for an otherwise intelligent person to hold racist attitudes.

[WoodrowFan]

30. Wilson was what?

Wilson was a racist, as were 95% of white southern men who grew up in the Civil War/ Reconstruction south, but what the heck do you mean by "practitioner of racial hygiene through public policy."

[Leados]

29. Yeah, it just says that people consciously

fight against their upbringing. Not that they're dumber.