disutility function

and i mean c’mon, we all know this already but its kind of funny to see it laid out in that science [read: unpatriotic, god-hating tree-hugger] sort of way.

From an article in the WaPo today, a new study out of Palm Springs, CA (i know yr already discrediting it) attempts to explore the relationship between racial biases and political affiliation.

can you feel the tension mounting?

well, guess what they found …

emphasis mine

[The study] explored relationships between racial bias and political affiliation by analyzing self-reported beliefs, voting patterns and the results of psychological tests that measure implicit attitudes — subtle stereotypes people hold about various groups.

That study found that supporters of President Bush and other conservatives had stronger self-admitted and implicit biases against blacks than liberals did.
[…]
The analysis found that substantial majorities of Americans, liberals and conservatives, found it more difficult to associate black faces with positive concepts than white faces — evidence of implicit bias. But districts that registered higher levels of bias systematically produced more votes for Bush.

“Obviously, such research does not speak at all to the question of the prejudice level of the president,” said Banaji, “but it does show that George W. Bush is appealing as a leader to those Americans who harbor greater anti-black prejudice.”

now, im sorry but, if you don’t find that hilariously worded there is “obviously” something very wrong with you.

seriously, as they are scientists, we have to assume they understand correlation, right?

ok, ok, i know there’s a lot of big science words in there (and you damn well better know that i, too, realize this is a simplistic argument to make in the first place, but shit, this is a blog isn’t it?) but here’s the gist of it: if you support the current president (and we know who you are) you are more likely to be racist than someone who does not support the president. Full Stop.

… and i’m sure (and bill hicks will back me up on this one) if you follow the logic to its completion, this likely applies to other areas of personal stereotypes … … like, i dont know, sexism? no? ok how about homophobia? no? ok, yr probably right.

Brian Jones, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said he disagreed with the study’s conclusions but that it was difficult to offer a detailed critique, as the research had not yet been published and he could not review the methodology. He also questioned whether the researchers themselves had implicit biases — against Republicans — noting that Nosek and Harvard psychologist Mahzarin Banaji had given campaign contributions to Democrats.

“There are a lot of factors that go into political affiliation, and snap determinations may be interesting for an academic study, but the real-world application seems somewhat murky,” Jones said.

thank goodness the RNC spokesman is there to offer his big-science-word-of-the-day desk calendar assistance. Where, o where, would we be without you, Brian?

anyway, even beyond all that, there’s actually a lot of humor in the article; that is, if you find subtlety humorous … and i do, so thank you very much

there’s a part of me that wants to talk about this a bit - you know, mention how the scientists are dancing around the issue and calling them ’subtle racial issues’ that most people don’t know about themselves:

“What automatic biases reveal is that while we have the feeling we are living up to our values, that feeling may not be right,” said University of Virginia psychologist Brian Nosek, who helped conduct the race analysis. “We are not aware of everything that causes our behavior, even things in our own lives.”

when i’d have to disagree. i tend to think most people are at least aware of the fact they have a racist, sexist, etc tendency - what is more subtle, and arguably more interesting, i suspect, is the degree to which they really feel these things.

but, then again, i can’t say that i’d be doing anything more by talking about this than actually pointing out the obvious fact that to many of us this is already, well, obvious.

but then again, i believe in dinosaurs.

…

i think god put you here to test my faith, dude.