This comment concerns an episode evolving the murder of a Black fireman. The Lightman team "teaches" us about the now well-known phenomenon that "everyone" is biased. Whether we overcome this bias or not. Who we "really are" is sometimes a question and sometimes it isn't but we all "react" initially, often against how we "morally" see ourselves.
In response then to someone's comment, I said: I emphasize that this is not easy material and the writers and producers should be as careful as possible. That said I would hope people can learn a lot from this show. People think or they don't.
I am more and more, less and less, in awe of "academics" that is for sure. "The system" of study and degree-granting is what we have but is so full of crap so much of the time. We all know that so many go through it and come out only bolstering the prejudices they went in with, and this show helps document exactly the way. Very, true of medicine. So very painful to learn for anyone.
Malchlom Gladwell does a decent job of "teaching" this very lesson in "Blink" more or less the depth. Simply put we react first on the subconscious level and then the cognitive level and the cognitive level can be the "real and integrated self."
This goes to my previous post here about what "shame" is. Shame, in Tomkins' definition (again Tomkins was Ekman's mentor [Ekman the resident expert here]), is a "blockage of ongoing good feeling", that is interest or joy. So anything that would interrupt the expected would "prejudice" us, making us feel a little off at least momentarily. I am used to seeing "my kind" and suddenly seeing another "kind." Fairly simple thought. As said in several ways by several people and by the research this is overridden very easily by the higher faculties if the person has the right experience. And as you say it is a survival trait you might not always want to override the "other" signal too quickly. As someone said we "need to have them."
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