Videos for week 11 - Prejudice

Topic of prejudice many conversations and points can stem from it. Before watching the video the English modulate states that professor Bloom believes "that prejudice is normal and can actually be beneficial" which I never thought of until now. Up until that statement, I always associated prejudice with a negative connotation especially since I am an African American young woman I have always kept an eye out for the preconceived stereotypes people may have about the culture and ethnicities I associate with. But to think that prejudice could be something that we are all born with and possibly beneficial to our existence has never settled and processed in my thoughts. When thinking it over it makes sense due to the human body always wanting to make sure it is self and protect itself in any way possible but I think the act of being prejudiced still differs greatly from a natural body protector such as fight or flight. To be prejudiced and have it be beneficial is something I would have to witness or have further explained as I can see how it could be true but for prejudice specifically to be beneficial makes me wonder who exactly it is benefitting. 

For the implicit bias test, I chose the race-weapons task in which I was asked to sort pictures into groups as fast as I can. Along with the sorting of photos, there were questions about my beliefs, attitudes, and opinions and standard demographic questions to fully understand my implicit bias. The test itself took around 10 minutes and was a little tricky as the photos and weapons associated kept switching along with the keys. My results, if I'm correct if they were the results because the site is a little tricky, informed me that I have a high association of weapons with white Americans and a moderate association of black Americans with weapons. I'm not sure what to do with this information, but it does help me take a step back on my perspectives of it. 

For the video linked, the opening line immediately caught my attention. During the ted talk in which Psychologist Paul Bloom discusses prejudice he states that "when we think about prejudice and bias, we tend to think about stupid and evil people doing stupid and evil things" which is very true and strengthens my opinion of prejudice mainly being a negative connotation. I say this due to everything having a pattern that eventually leads to a definition for that word such as the word studious thus prejudice had many negative patterns. Although that may be the case, Bloom presents his argument in a way that makes prejudice appear to even be moral by relating to a pretense of protection for both the mind and body as what the mind prepares for can't hurt you. I enjoyed the ted talk very much as Paul Bloom brought new ideas I never would have thought of and allows me to keep an eye out for any biases I may have stemmed from my own protection of self.