IT IS EASY TO CALL THEM STUPIDS

As the word itself state, pre-judice is “a preconceived judgment or opinion” (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). So, the judgment is made before collecting enough information about the object which is going to be judged. We can observe an unambiguous example of prejudice in this article about Katrina survivors (Stephens, Hamedani, Markus, Bergsieker, & Eloul, 2009). Observers, leavers, and, showing a lower intensity, relief workers are biased by their own disjoint model of agency, causing difficulties to understand the point of view of people who do not acted according to this agency model. Consequently, their judgement is made without gathering enough information about the other’s point of view, which generates prejudging.

This is why, personally, I decided to live according to the principle of trying not to judge before knowing. Even, realizing the practically impossibility of achievement of this goal, as the implicit-association test shows (“Implicit-association test,” 2014). But, as a philosophy of life or as a moral value, attempts of, at least, trying to know, and to understand the other’s point of view is completely fundamental. Following this effort of gathering knowledge and sympathising with the dissimilar, a more accurate valuation might be done. Furthermore, in case we would find it necessary, once we have known the reality of the external perspective, we may make more efficient interventions.

According to the previous, my reflection question would be presented as follows:  What would be the best measures to evacuate population that are not based on a disjoint model of agency from risks areas? From my point of view, answering this question should be done after a deep analysis of the situation and the reasons why these people do not follow a disjoint agency model. For instance, due to the higher value in interdependence, and the lack of a big income, and, in half of the cases, a car, I would consider a good measure the promotion of cheap train tickets for larges groups of middle class workers.

Carlos Alcalá

PS. If, as a reader, you have any special interest in a broader argumentation of my ideas, please, contact with me through alcalamarcos.carlos@student.kuleuven.be

References

       Implicit-association test. (2014, March 30). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Implicit-association_test&oldid=595461075

      

       Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Prejudice. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prejudice

     

       Stephens, N. M., Hamedani, M. G., Markus, H. R., Bergsieker, H. B., & Eloul, L. (2009). Why did they “choose” to stay? Perspectives of Hurricane Katrina observers and survivors. Psychological Science, 20(7), 878–886.