Adroit

I doubt if it is true. Maybe the media chose select idiots……. (Since I know so many of Americans, and they are pretty normal…)
Anyways, enjoy… (I’m sure YouTube has similar videos for Brits, Germans and Indians too).

1 note

ihatethismess:

Not Thinking About Race: Accidentally Illustrating Evil with Skin Color
Last week NPR reported on a scale developed by a forensic psychologist, Michael Stone, on which murderers could be placed according to how evil they are (from slightly evil to really, really really evil). To illustrate the scale, NPR developed this graphic.
Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that the artists designing this graphic did not purposefully associate darker skin-like colors with more evil and lighter skin-like colors with less evil. I think this is a fair assumption, though I don’t know for sure that this is true. But let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.
If they didn’t do this on purpose, then race never consciously entered their minds. Once you notice that the colors are skin-like colors, and if you are a member of a society that discriminates against darker-skinned people, you immediately see that this graphic reproduces those stereotypes… AND YOU CHANGE THE COLORS. Any color, going from light to dark, will illustrate intensity. How about red? In Western societies, red is associated with anger. If you insist on using black because black signifies evil in our culture, how about using a true black (that is very rarely if ever seen on people) and a gray scale? How about any color other than brown?
I think this is likely a case in which the producers of the image did not think. And not thinking is one of the most insidious ways that racism and other bigotries get reproduced. People who don’t think about race are the most likely to endorse racial stereotypes. When people who think about race are distracted — with another task, or loud music, or some other intervening stimulus — they are more likely to think stereotypically than when they are not distracted. We can’t be colorblind. Our unconscious is steeped in racial meanings. Consciously fighting those associations is the only way to be less racist.
Not thinking about race is a cousin to thinking racist thoughts. Only thinking hard about race helps alleviate racism. And this graphic is an excellent example of why.

Not Thinking About Race: Accidentally Illustrating Evil with Skin Color

Last week NPR reported on a scale developed by a forensic psychologist, Michael Stone, on which murderers could be placed according to how evil they are (from slightly evil to really, really really evil). To illustrate the scale, NPR developed this graphic.

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that the artists designing this graphic did not purposefully associate darker skin-like colors with more evil and lighter skin-like colors with less evil. I think this is a fair assumption, though I don’t know for sure that this is true. But let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.

If they didn’t do this on purpose, then race never consciously entered their minds. Once you notice that the colors are skin-like colors, and if you are a member of a society that discriminates against darker-skinned people, you immediately see that this graphic reproduces those stereotypes… AND YOU CHANGE THE COLORS. Any color, going from light to dark, will illustrate intensity. How about red? In Western societies, red is associated with anger. If you insist on using black because black signifies evil in our culture, how about using a true black (that is very rarely if ever seen on people) and a gray scale? How about any color other than brown?

I think this is likely a case in which the producers of the image did not think. And not thinking is one of the most insidious ways that racism and other bigotries get reproduced. People who don’t think about race are the most likely to endorse racial stereotypes. When people who think about race are distracted — with another task, or loud music, or some other intervening stimulus — they are more likely to think stereotypically than when they are not distracted. We can’t be colorblind. Our unconscious is steeped in racial meanings. Consciously fighting those associations is the only way to be less racist.

Not thinking about race is a cousin to thinking racist thoughts. Only thinking hard about race helps alleviate racism. And this graphic is an excellent example of why.

(via kiriamaya)

This is video of the month!

So inspiring, you’ll get goosebumps.

(Talk by - Randy Pausch, Professor, CMU)

A side of Will Smith, which I did not know of………..
Great and Inspirational!

2 notes

Thanks to my Teachers and Students….

Today is Teachers Day.

I wished my Guru (He taught me in B.Tech, not merely Software Engg, but a lot bout life).

And I was overwhelmed when one of my Very young friends called me to say - “Thanks for being my Teacher, who taught me how to live life, this way”.

I know I don’t deserve that, but nevertheless I’m elated and blessed to have such friends in my life.

teachers

sweetupndown9: Hey there! Thanks for following me, I just had to follow back after seeing a little of whats on your first page, and reading through your about me :) I hope you enjoy my blog, as I am very sure I'll enjoy yours.

Best,
Kristen!

Thanks Kristen!

That’s sweet of you. I liked your blog, and I noticed that you are wife of a soldier, so I could relate. I was an Army officer (in Indian Army) for 14 years.

So, great! See you around. Happy blogging.

Raj

1 note

World without engineers!!!

engineer

IT MADE MY DAY!!

Hey folks,

Today morning, by 10am, my day was f***ed….. - Piles of paper work, 2 legal notices to address, loads of bills to be paid… refused payments from the clients….

Stress was mounting……. and then I had my Coach call at 10.30am.

The call went off well… There was some sign of “light at the end of tunnel”….. and the game I took to play in my life is - 100% INTEGRITY……….

Sounds nice? ;-) Yes, it does……..

And inside of 100% integrity I started the day again………………

Yahoo messenger! It automatically came up when I started the comp reaching office. (Inside 100% integrity, I had promised to myself - No Yahoo / MSN etc….- ONLY WORK!!)

And a message popped out from this friend (chasing rainbows (not her real id)…)…

I quickly logged out of Yahoo to fulfill 100% integrity. But then I did not want her to be incomplete and logged in just to say bye to her.

And she gave me a URL. Again waste of time….But I still clicked on the URL and I watched it………..

Oh………. It is awesome….

It made my day.. (Maybe it makes your day as well… the URL is - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYLMvYhl-5k and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_20XEFjRBqU&feature=related )

I realized - the small moments of life keep it alive…..

Hope it makes your day as well.

love

mohandasgandhi:

TED Talk: Statistician Nic Marks asks why we measure a nation’s success by its productivity — instead of by the happiness and well-being of its people. He introduces the Happy Planet Index, which tracks national well-being against resource use (because a happy life doesn’t have to cost the earth). Which countries rank highest in the HPI? You might be surprised.

I really agree with a lot of this. Apocalyptic scare scenarios are not the best platforms for environmental change - and this doesn’t mean we don’t need to be realistic while finding a solution. Reactionist environmentalists do not help their cause. However, we should not be making decisions by measuring happiness and by trying to maximize the greatest possible set of outcomes. Some consequentialists fail to realize that “happiness” is not a proper justification for everything. He makes good arguments but I just have a few nit-picky issues with the way he goes about them because the way we structure our logic can sometimes be more important than the content itself. I’m not sure if that’s necessarily true here.

I do believe he is correct in his assurance that a simplified life is happier. If doing what is right for the environment amounts to human happiness, then good. However, our endpoint should be focused on what is right as opposed to what could create happiness. Perhaps I’ve allowed my studies in logic and philosophy to distract myself a bit too much because all of the points made are very good. We shouldn’t be measuring success by productivity and superficial ends as opposed to the well-being of Earth’s populace. I think human happiness and environmental sustainability go hand-in-hand and it’s a shame we haven’t embraced this concept quite yet.

Do we want a big flat-screen TV in every room of our house or do we want maybe one TV and a bit of happiness?

16 notes