implicit prejudice

we're all soooo evolved that we're above it, right?  wrong.  try this.

tall men are hot! my bf is 6'8"! rrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Original Post by pgeorgian:

did you do one of the tests, 'sully? 

if you have an automatic preference for tall people, that would mean you associate tall people with positive things and short people with negative things.  maybe it doesn't matter, but maybe you're in HR for a major employer.  maybe you're on a jury and the defendant (or the defence attourney) is short. 

whether or not your automatic preference taints your judgement may be up for debate.  but wouldn't it be helpful to know it's there, so that you can take that into account in assessing your leanings?

 many consulting companies out there that make a ton of money profiling potential jurors for that very reason.

I sort of like the fact that fat white women don't get picked for a lot of juries - evidently we tend to vote guilty out of some sense of resentment.

W-Girl: back atcha sistah.

Original Post by watergirl:

tall men are hot! my bf is 6'8"! rrrrrrrrrrrrr!

 Jesus H. Christ.  How tall are you?

5'8"

he could crush me like a bug if he wanted but he doesnt, hes my gentle giant my king of hearts, wrapped up in his arms feels like the safest place in the world :)

That's not too bad then I guess.  I'm 5'4 so he would send me screaming to the woods.

Original Post by pgeorgian:

most people don't get obnoxious and arrogant until their early 20s.  that's when most of us decide we've already learned everything we need to know

 damn, you really do hate me!  ;)

he definitely has quite a presence. its interesting how rude people can be remarking on his height.

at times he tries to not stand out. its kinda interesting psychologically speaking - he can intimidate most anyone and so of course will if he needs to but also has that side of him that just doesnt want to be noticed.

People actually say something to him?  Huh.  That's rather foward.

ALL the time. he needs a shirt that says" Im 6'8" and no i dont play basketball"

Original Post by nuggetkong:

 Jesus H. Christ.  How tall are you?

 they say stuff like this ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Ha!  But I wouldn't say it to his face.  That's just rude.  I'm a firm believer of talking behind people's backs.

He should respond "No, I don't play basketball.  I'm in my fifth year as a jockey."

riiiiite. i'll be sure to suggest that one for future use. things that make you go...wtf?

Original Post by nuggetkong:

Original Post by pavlovcat:

Agree with ibez.  Prejudice is how the brain learns.  As long as a person is aware of his/her prejudice and recognizes that it is not infallible, there's nothing wrong with it.  Prejudice is not always a negative bias - it can also be positive too.

And quit picking on his age.  You have no idea what he's experienced in his life, so you have no way of knowing what his knowledge is based on.  He could be an ass, or he could be a genius, or he could be someone who had to raise himself and has learned about life the hard way. 

All you "tolerant" people really should learn how to play well with others.

 You just said that its okay for people to be prejudiced as long as they know they are, then you told people to stop being prejudiced about age because its wrong.  Huh.

 Holy Word Twister, Batman!  Apparently I need to clarify.  Prejudice is a part of the brain's natural learning process, therefore we should not be made to feel guilty for having prejudices.  We SHOULD be made to feel guilty when we use that part of the learning process to justify unreasonable behaviors and beliefs on our part even after getting new information. 

Let me provide an example for everyone out there unused to having to do their own thinking.  Say I'm in my car, obeying all traffic laws, when someone swerves into my lane causing me to go off the side of the road and into a ditch.  I happen to notice that the person in the car is about 17 - maybe it's ibez!  My prejudices immediately cause me to assume that this 17 year old is texting, busy changing their CD or is in some other way behaving like an inexperienced and immature driver who is endangering the lives of others.  I get angry.  This prepares me to defend myself against someone who may be a danger to me or others. 

Then this 17 year old pulls over and checks to make sure I'm okay and reveals to me that a crazy person named nuggetkong was in the backseat holding a gun to his head to make him drive to the nearest McDonald's for a french fry fix and his fear caused his hands to get so sweaty that he lost control of the car.  Thankfully, the sudden swerving caused nuggetkong's gun to fly out the window where it was crushed by a passing Bud Light-carrying 18 wheeler. 

Even though my initial prejudice was logical and understandable and I should not feel guilty for my feelings, it would now by WRONG for me to continue to be angry at the 17 year old and put him in a headlock while hurling insults at him.

This makes perfect sense to me, but perhaps that is only my prejudice-addled brain deluding me.

Original Post by pavlovcat:

Original Post by nuggetkong:

Original Post by pavlovcat:

Agree with ibez.  Prejudice is how the brain learns.  As long as a person is aware of his/her prejudice and recognizes that it is not infallible, there's nothing wrong with it.  Prejudice is not always a negative bias - it can also be positive too.

And quit picking on his age.  You have no idea what he's experienced in his life, so you have no way of knowing what his knowledge is based on.  He could be an ass, or he could be a genius, or he could be someone who had to raise himself and has learned about life the hard way. 

All you "tolerant" people really should learn how to play well with others.

 You just said that its okay for people to be prejudiced as long as they know they are, then you told people to stop being prejudiced about age because its wrong.  Huh.

 Holy Word Twister, Batman!  Apparently I need to clarify.  Prejudice is a part of the brain's natural learning process, therefore we should not be made to feel guilty for having prejudices.  We SHOULD be made to feel guilty when we use that part of the learning process to justify unreasonable behaviors and beliefs on our part even after getting new information. 

Let me provide an example for everyone out there unused to having to do their own thinking.  Say I'm in my car, obeying all traffic laws, when someone swerves into my lane causing me to go off the side of the road and into a ditch.  I happen to notice that the person in the car is about 17 - maybe it's ibez!  My prejudices immediately cause me to assume that this 17 year old is texting, busy changing their CD or is in some other way behaving like an inexperienced and immature driver who is endangering the lives of others.  I get angry.  This prepares me to defend myself against someone who may be a danger to me or others. 

Then this 17 year old pulls over and checks to make sure I'm okay and reveals to me that a crazy person named nuggetkong was in the backseat holding a gun to his head to make him drive to the nearest McDonald's for a french fry fix and his fear caused his hands to get so sweaty that he lost control of the car.  Thankfully, the sudden swerving caused nuggetkong's gun to fly out the window where it was crushed by a passing Bud Light-carrying 18 wheeler. 

Even though my initial prejudice was logical and understandable and I should not feel guilty for my feelings, it would now by WRONG for me to continue to be angry at the 17 year old and put him in a headlock while hurling insults at him.

This makes perfect sense to me, but perhaps that is only my prejudice-addled brain deluding me.

 ...and now I'm a crazy gun toting carjacker.  Wow.  I always knew I was destined for great things.

awwww man... *I* wanted to be the gun-totin carjacker!

Don't worry nugget, I'm fairly certain the judge will understand that a craving for McD's french fries qualifies as extenuating circumstances.  I have faith that you'll be able to put this incident behind you and become the person your mother always wanted you to be. 

Original Post by pavlovcat:

Let me provide an example for everyone out there unused to having to do their own thinking.  Say I'm in my car, obeying all traffic laws, when someone swerves into my lane causing me to go off the side of the road and into a ditch.  I happen to notice that the person in the car is about 17 - maybe it's ibez!  My prejudices immediately cause me to assume that this 17 year old is texting, busy changing their CD or is in some other way behaving like an inexperienced and immature driver who is endangering the lives of others.  I get angry.  This prepares me to defend myself against someone who may be a danger to me or others. 

Then this 17 year old pulls over and checks to make sure I'm okay and reveals to me that a crazy person named nuggetkong was in the backseat holding a gun to his head to make him drive to the nearest McDonald's for a french fry fix and his fear caused his hands to get so sweaty that he lost control of the car.  Thankfully, the sudden swerving caused nuggetkong's gun to fly out the window where it was crushed by a passing Bud Light-carrying 18 wheeler. 

Even though my initial prejudice was logical and understandable and I should not feel guilty for my feelings, it would now by WRONG for me to continue to be angry at the 17 year old and put him in a headlock while hurling insults at him.

This makes perfect sense to me, but perhaps that is only my prejudice-addled brain deluding me.

 LMAO!!

Original Post by pavlovcat:

Don't worry nugget, I'm fairly certain the judge will understand that a craving for McD's french fries qualifies as extenuating circumstances.  I have faith that you'll be able to put this incident behind you and become the person your mother always wanted you to be. 

They are really good fries.

i am disgusted how people jumped on that poor Ibez. He's 17, But nothing like a typical 17 year old, imho. 17 year old boys know jack-**** about anything. they barely know multisyllabic adjectives.

 he's well read. he's interested in learning and exploring scientific concepts, he's solitary, hasnt found his niche in life yet.....based on all this, dont you think the LAST thing he needs is for ogres like pg and her ogrettes to  jump on him, upon the first (accurate) instinct that he was an easy target?

he could be riddled with depression, bullied, had little support his whole life, he could as a result have social anxiety......we dont no. but he was on this site, engaging in a discussion sharing his views and then got eaten up and regurgitated out.

its mean. i think he made a hell of a lot of sense.

I don't know how this discussion even got to this point, and it wasn't my intention to bring it there, but I'll respond to the relevant posts...

Original Post by madamq:

That is the curse of arrogance my dear.  Like it or not it just shows how far you have to go.

I'm a little arrogant. And so are you. Your post is based around the assumption that you're above me. And that's how you feel; more wise, more learned, more experienced. That is your arrogance.

The difference presumably being that I'll admit to mine.

That being said, it's not about arrogance. It's about talking to people in your everyday life and feeling that they live in a completely different world than you do. I can't generally communicate effectively with people because our thought process tends to be different on such a fundamental level.

Original Post by nuggetkong:

He's obviously very intelligent.  I know many people who are quite intelligent that can barely make it through life.  Intelligence in and of itself does not mean that a person is somehow "greater than normal" or is destined for good things.

I do believe I called it a "curse", and never said it makes me "greater than normal". I myself can barely make it through life by normal standards.

Original Post by kathygator:

 Bold & edit : this is how we got off on the wrong foot with the kid.

But here's the thing: I read through his subsequent posts and see some good points. But I also see a kid who feels isolated and has decided the best way to protect himself from loneliness is to hide behind intelligence and not care if he's liked.

Ibez: Intelligence is useless unless you use it to expand your view. If you don't connect with people, you limit your education.

I would say that it's a very profound loneliness, so as to be unfixable by simply meeting people or forming relationships. It's not that I haven't tried to connect with people; rather that most of the time, I can't.

Original Post by pgeorgian:

i actually love teenagers.  most of them are wicked fun, funny, optimistic, and pretty humble.  i was a youth worker for a decade; i've spent thousands of hours with thousands of teenagers.  almost all of them are great.

most people don't get obnoxious and arrogant until their early 20s.  that's when most of us decide we've already learned everything we need to know.

anyway, i think 'gator has nailed it.  ibez isn't really arrogant; he's lonely.  and for whatever reason, he feels safe here.

(he reminds me of giggle_puppy, actually, except that he thinks he means it.)

Might not come as a surprise, but I'm even worse with other teenagers than I am middle-aged women.

In general, everyone's arrogant to some degree. It's only natural really; everyone is the protagonist in their own life story. Not that I'm sitting here bragging about my achievements. And I don't take any pride in being intelligent, just like I don't take pride in having blue eyes. It's how things ended up.

I find the whole age-related prejudice to be rather funny. If my profile said I were an old man, maybe you'd think I was just a plain old eccentric.