“A Little Bit Racist”

So, I’m really curious to know what you guys think about this. In the wake of the Mike Brown debacle, NYT columnist Nicholas Kristof apparently discovered that he might be “a little bit racist” based on the results of a shooting game he played, which was set up to measure “implicit associations and the demographic variables” affecting them. The game calls for you, the self-defense shooter, to identify threats and make shoot/no-shoot decisions.

Besides learning that “speeded” is actually a word, I learned that adrenaline and nerves had as much to do with my performance as anything. Oh, and I learned that a wallet is more easily identifiable as non-threatening than a cell phone or a soft drink can. And although at first I was really curious about how I’d do, eventually fatigue (boredom?) affected my choices too. Honestly I ended up abandoning the game after I my brain started wandering and I lost interest. It only takes a few minutes according to the instructions, but my ADD kicked in I suppose. So I’m not sure what my ultimate “score” would have been.

Anyway, if you’re interested, here’s a link to the “game” or you can click the image below. Try it out, see how you do, and let me know what you think — about the game or about the Kristof article.

Shooter_Task

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