Blindspot written by Mahzarin Banaji and Anthony Greenwald, is a compelling book on our impulses, our reactions based on already stored information in a part of the brain which as a conscious person we are not aware of. It talks about years of research done in the field of psychology to arrive at a conclusion that we as a humans, have stereotypes inbuilt in our brains which is a major reason for our talk, reason, action, reaction. Using the Implicit Association test (IAT), writers make you aware of dangerous realities inside your brain that for example you are a “White” racial person even though you would deny that in the open setting. It is a very important study of human characteristics and tell you why you think the way you think. Stereotypes are not acquired, it is built over the years of data, seeing things around, seeing people around, culture, religion etc. We humans, have the great capacity to imprint what we see, and that becomes a basis of our action, the need to rationalize or act according to a situation is over-awed by the automatic reaction side of our brain. We remain oblivious to our hidden biases and it influences our behavior towards members of various social groups and our ability to take rational decisions.
Tons of IAT done on all types of human races: Americans (White or Black), Asians, Hispanics, Europeans have revealed that we live in a polarized society which forms opinion not entirely on the facts of the case but by something which we historically came to believe not knowing that that is stored in brain and we are not aware of this shortfall. The word psychologists use to capture the cracks in system is dissociation., which encompasses so many of humankind’s contradictory attitudes and behaviors that it ranks among psychology’s most powerful concepts. Here’s a definition: Dissociation is the occurrence, in one and the same mind, of mutually inconsistent ideas that remain isolated from one another. Author writes, it is the barrier between the dissociation (Reflexive or rational mind and Automatic or intuitive mind) that IATs were designed to reveal.
The question of why is it important to know what’s in your brain also comes up, because it could be devastating for an individual to know his/her certain innate biases which he/she all along has acted against it or atleast talked opposite in public. It could lead to sadness or even cause distress. “It undermines the image we have of ourselves as largely fair-minded and egalitarian”, authors note. Continuing forward, book explains what Japanese Poet Ryunosuke Akutagawa said “What good is intelligence if you cannot discover a useful melancholy”, in simple terms it means that knowledge that provokes a feeling of distress is only of value if it can be put to some use. In the books’ terms, authors writes ‘Of What value is it to have developed tests like the IAT that reveal the darker sides of our selves.
In one of the striking examples of favoritism or hidden bias, is a story of Carla Kaplan. Carla Kaplan was an assistant professor of American Literature at Yale in late 1980s. To paraphrase the story here, Carla was a dedicated quilter. One evening while washing a crystal bowl, it accidently slipped from her hands. The jagged edge of the broken bowl slit her hand from mid-palm to wrist. She was taken to a nearby Yale affiliated New Haven hospital. Her boyfriend explained to the attending doctor that she is a quilter so she needs a special attention and hand to be treated in a way she can start quilting again. He feared injury might impair the fine motor control she needs for the activity she loved. A student volunteer saw Carla, and said “Professor Kaplan”, for which the doctor asked “You’re a professor at Yale?”. She was then rushed to the surgery department and the best hand surgeon from Connecticut was called in to treat and restore Carla’s hand. So she was treated specially not because, she was just another patient but she was a Yale Professor. A classic example of in-group favoritism.
This books is full of such examples where authors runs you through your daily life and give you examples which can shock you and can enlighten you at the same time. It is important for us as part of a millennial to know what we are acting upon. It is important we understand that if our actions are based facts/rationales or we are acting on false impulses stored in some part of the brain which can be dig upon. Human mind is a dangerous thing, which is why we have whole branch of science dedicated to it. But when it comes to acting upon a certain shortfall inside us, it rarely falls upon the realms of scientific research but only upon one individual. You. I will end this piece by quoting a part of the book below which will remain with me and I wish to pass on:
“The reflective aspects of our mind allows to imagine a future that improves on the present state of affairs, to achieve settled upon and consciously chosen goals and values. Knowledge is indeed powerful, and self-knowledge achieved by taking the IAT can exert its power by unsettling existing views of one’s mind. If that happens, the melancholy produced by the IAT will indeed by useful.”
Tons of IAT done on all types of human races: Americans (White or Black), Asians, Hispanics, Europeans have revealed that we live in a polarized society which forms opinion not entirely on the facts of the case but by something which we historically came to believe not knowing that that is stored in brain and we are not aware of this shortfall. The word psychologists use to capture the cracks in system is dissociation., which encompasses so many of humankind’s contradictory attitudes and behaviors that it ranks among psychology’s most powerful concepts. Here’s a definition: Dissociation is the occurrence, in one and the same mind, of mutually inconsistent ideas that remain isolated from one another. Author writes, it is the barrier between the dissociation (Reflexive or rational mind and Automatic or intuitive mind) that IATs were designed to reveal.
The question of why is it important to know what’s in your brain also comes up, because it could be devastating for an individual to know his/her certain innate biases which he/she all along has acted against it or atleast talked opposite in public. It could lead to sadness or even cause distress. “It undermines the image we have of ourselves as largely fair-minded and egalitarian”, authors note. Continuing forward, book explains what Japanese Poet Ryunosuke Akutagawa said “What good is intelligence if you cannot discover a useful melancholy”, in simple terms it means that knowledge that provokes a feeling of distress is only of value if it can be put to some use. In the books’ terms, authors writes ‘Of What value is it to have developed tests like the IAT that reveal the darker sides of our selves.
In one of the striking examples of favoritism or hidden bias, is a story of Carla Kaplan. Carla Kaplan was an assistant professor of American Literature at Yale in late 1980s. To paraphrase the story here, Carla was a dedicated quilter. One evening while washing a crystal bowl, it accidently slipped from her hands. The jagged edge of the broken bowl slit her hand from mid-palm to wrist. She was taken to a nearby Yale affiliated New Haven hospital. Her boyfriend explained to the attending doctor that she is a quilter so she needs a special attention and hand to be treated in a way she can start quilting again. He feared injury might impair the fine motor control she needs for the activity she loved. A student volunteer saw Carla, and said “Professor Kaplan”, for which the doctor asked “You’re a professor at Yale?”. She was then rushed to the surgery department and the best hand surgeon from Connecticut was called in to treat and restore Carla’s hand. So she was treated specially not because, she was just another patient but she was a Yale Professor. A classic example of in-group favoritism.
This books is full of such examples where authors runs you through your daily life and give you examples which can shock you and can enlighten you at the same time. It is important for us as part of a millennial to know what we are acting upon. It is important we understand that if our actions are based facts/rationales or we are acting on false impulses stored in some part of the brain which can be dig upon. Human mind is a dangerous thing, which is why we have whole branch of science dedicated to it. But when it comes to acting upon a certain shortfall inside us, it rarely falls upon the realms of scientific research but only upon one individual. You. I will end this piece by quoting a part of the book below which will remain with me and I wish to pass on:
“The reflective aspects of our mind allows to imagine a future that improves on the present state of affairs, to achieve settled upon and consciously chosen goals and values. Knowledge is indeed powerful, and self-knowledge achieved by taking the IAT can exert its power by unsettling existing views of one’s mind. If that happens, the melancholy produced by the IAT will indeed by useful.”
