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I am in the process of reading Malcolm Gladwell’s book blink. In chapter three he talks about the “Warren Harding error” where we make a subconscious snap judgment and then stop thinking about it. We allow the subconscious to make a value judgment and never revisit our decision. The reason it is called the “Warren Harding error” is because of the process that got him elected President of the United States.

Warren Harding was a strikingly handsome man. People would see him and they would assume that he was a true leader and an insightful politician. Turns out he was arguably the worst President we have ever elected. The evidence was there to suggest he was going to be a horrible President.

He talks about and provides samples of the IAT (Implicit Association Test). The IAT uses a technique that measures the time it takes to sort a list of terms into columns. Each column is give a pair of values. So for instance one column is “Male or Career” and the other “Female or Family”. The terms are names like John or Holly and terms like capitalist or laundry. The test measures the time it takes to sort the terms into the columns. The test is then taken again with the column pairings switched so that one column is “Male or Family” and the other “Female or Career”. The terms and names become harder to sort. The reason is that our culture has built into us a subconscious implicit association between “Male and Career” and “Female and Family”.

The test is also run on the term pairs “European American or Good” and “African American or Bad” and the opposite pairing “European America or Bad” and “African American and Good”. Te results of this test are staggering to consider. People who say that the are in no way shape or form racist still hold a closer association between European American and Good and African American and Bad. This was true regardless of the conscious opinion of race held by the participant. Of the 50,000 participants who were African American about 50% of them held a strong association between European American and Good and African American and Bad. This speaks volumes about the cultural climate and the value our society places on race.

As it turns out there is a way to shift the opinions uncovered by the IAT. The best way to avoid the “Warren Harding error” is to expose ourselves to positive associations. For example, by studying the lives of Martin Luther King Jr. or Nelson Mandela we can prime ourselves to make a stronger association between African American and Good. By exposing ourselves to the best of other cultures we can actually effect our subconscious bias.

After reading this chapter of blink I recalled one of my favorite quotes from the writings of my faith (its the Baha’i Faith for those that do not know). The quote is from Baha’u'llah, the founder of the Baha’i Faith.

He wrote :

O CHILDREN OF MEN!

Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since We have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest. Such is My counsel to you, O concourse of light! Heed ye this counsel that ye may obtain the fruit of holiness from the tree of wondrous glory.

The key phrase in that quote is “Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created.” The Writings of Baha’u'llah are filled with reminders to think about or meditate upon a connection or condition or action that will be helpful, or that will eliminate a prejudice, or that will increase the capacity ogf the individual to serve humanity.

Faith can focus our minds on positive connections, on the elimination of bias. The trick is that we must be ever mindful to fight the messages that bombard us on a daily basis. We must overcome the negative with a mindful thought of the positive. Abdu’l-Baha, the son of Baha’u'llah and a central figure in the Baha’i Faith said:

I charge you all that each one of you concentrate all the thoughts of your heart on love and unity. When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love. Thoughts of war bring destruction to all harmony, well-being, restfulness and content.

Thoughts of love are constructive of brotherhood, peace, friendship, and happiness.

Regardless of a person’s Faith or their belief (or non-belief) in God, I think that there is a truth in this that cognitive science is beginning to see. Our thoughts and our experiences create deep subconscious reactions that we cannot control or alter except through a mindful effort to foster positive perceptions.

I think I am going to read about MLK or maybe Saladin to wash away some of the negativity building up in my subconscious.