Most of us are prejudiced in one way or another. Me, for instance, when I notice a guy and a girl quarreling, being a feminist, I will immediately conclude that the guy had done something wrong. I knew that to assume is to make an ass out of “u” and me, and I know what I think does not necessarily reflect what’s actually going on, but I will subconsciously perceive it in that manner because I am prejudiced that way.

Our ability to perceive accurately is affected by a number of factors. Basically, we see what we expect to see. What we expect to see depends on our cultural expectations, past experiences, personal prejudices and momentary expectations. For me, cultural expectations, to a very large extent, depends on our personal prejudices. I have friends who think all Englishmen are good-looking, so when they get to know real Englishmen in real life, before they were introduced to each other, in their minds they were already expecting to be introduced to a Robert Pattinson-look alike.

  I’ll like to adduce evidence to prove my opinion. Allow me to share with you guys something I’ve came across when I was reading Andrew Choo’s article on hearsay rule, The Rationales for The Rule.

  In the 1940s, a series of experiments were conducted by Allport and Postman. They used a picture which showed the interior of a crowded subway, with two people standing up, talking to each other. One of them was a well-groomed black man. The other man was a white man, who was holding a razor blade. This picture was showed to a subject, Subject A,  for a brief moment. Subject A then has to tell Subject B about the contents of the picture, who then have to repeat the information to Subject C. The process keep repeating itself until it reaches six or seven subjects. This experiment was conducted on a number of people. It was found there most people end up recalling the picture as showing a black man holding the razor. Some even ended up recalling the black man “brandishing it widly” or “threatening the white man with the razor.”

  Conclusion? Don’t always believe in what you see.

P.S. I suppose that’s the reason why my boyfriend always tell me: Just because I’m looking at somewhere else, it does not mean I’m checking out hot chicks!

  Anyway, are you guys prejudiced against anything?