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When the desired behavior is performed, a sound is played. When the test subjects reach deep sleep, that same sound is played repeatedly. Subjects were then more likely to perform the desired behavior.
The article, "Unlearning implicit social biases during sleep" appears in the journal Science; an abstract and full report are available.
[Original Submission - Ed.]
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Scientist Develop Effective Brainwashing
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All this time I've been VIEWING a RUSSIAN MIDGET SODOMIZE a HOUSECAT!
(Score: 1) by Murdoc on Saturday May 30 2015, @03:11AM
I suppose that my comment was too short for me to be clear on what I meant, but in actuality I totally agree with you, that both approaches are needed to be integrated for best effect. Well, not the brainwashing mentioned in the article, but yes, the "practice" as you mentioned. Everyone already knows how to think critically at least a little bit, but like most skills, there are many levels of competence. And also, even the skills that people have they don't necessarily use all the times they should, so that would be part of the practice.
But thank you for clarifying the subject for me. I didn't have all that background information.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Saturday May 30 2015, @05:06AM
I agree that we may be looking at a bunch of very scared racists who thing they may be forced or tricked in to not being racist anymore, but our common point is that that really can't happen. I always have liked the line by the teacher at the beginning of the Joss Whedon movie "Serenity": "We're not telling people what to think, we're just trying to show them how!"
(Score: 1) by Murdoc on Saturday May 30 2015, @07:12AM
I liked that line too, but in the case of Serenity, I think that the teacher was using that line as a way to cover up the sins of the Alliance. Although I loved the movie and Firefly, I didn't really like the message Joss (or at least Mal) was trying to assert that "You can't make people better." I think you can, and we have even succeeded to a degree so far, and that we know plenty about how to do more, without it being sinister like on Miranda, just by doing the stuff we've been talking about.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Saturday May 30 2015, @08:21AM
"Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, ten? They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin'. I aim to misbehave. "
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds.
Now that may be the great outlaw libertarian mantra, put in such great context by the genius of Joss Whedon. But I have to ask, " Can I make a suggestion that doesn't involve violence, or is this the wrong crowd for that? " (Wash, the pilot of Serenity).
So you and I, out of the thousands of Soylentils, have come to the conclusion that it is only through the discipline of critical thinking that the pox of racism, sexism, and overall dickish behaviour shall be cured. I take your hand, brother, for truly you are such, and we together will face the onslaught of racists who think that just having different thoughts means that all thought is equally valid! But you realize the downside of this responsibility: Reavers, we made them! (Wash, again. Not surprising that he is the only crew member who gets killed off. )
Not malicious, it is only that when racists are confronted with the logical implications, they tend to cut on themselves and others. So if we can get them to change their behavior when they are asleep, I am all for that, and I imagine Joss is too.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 30 2015, @12:10PM
Most bigotry hinges on the idea that being human requires one to have a specific amount of melanin, a specific set of genitals, a specific sexual orientation or identity, or worship a specific god. Anyone with half a brain sees how fallicious this is; bigotry is, by definition, delusional; it is not and never will be valid.
(Score: 1) by Murdoc on Sunday May 31 2015, @02:01AM
Yeah, I liked Wash's comment there too.
So why do you think that so many people here seem against these ideas? They generally seem in favor of more critical thinking education in other threads, so is it just this issue? Maybe it's just random chance who happened to comment; not everyone sees every post and comment. I saw the responses to your recent 'troll' post, and while people did bring up some valid additional factors, they were far from as useful of solutions to the problem. Such as "more diversity", etc. Well, to get that, you pretty much have to reduce the racism first, don't you? But with CT, you can teach people that, not for the purpose of changing their minds about racism directly, but to help them in their lives, such as careers, relationships, education, avoiding scams, etc., and I can't see many people not wanting that (one term I like is "intellectual self-defence"). Then, once they are good at it, they'll have to apply it to their racism/sexism/whatever, and if they are good enough, they will change their minds. One strategy I'd like to try for instance is teaching them about meme allergies [lucifer.com]. If you can get them to agree that they are bad, and that looking for your own and eradicating them is a good idea, they'll practically do it themselves (although some may need help with that). A more comprehensive CT program would likely work even better, I think.