Prejudice is natural, now what? A word from Antonio Damasio.

 

 

"reactions that lead to racial and cultural prejudices are based in part on the automatic

deployment of social emotions evolutionarily meant to detect differences in others because

difference may signal risk or danger, and promote withdrawal or aggression.That

sort of reaction probably achieved useful goals in a tribal society but is no longer useful,

let alone appropriate, to ours. We can be wise to the fact that our brain still carries.

the machinery to react in the way it did in a very different context ages ago. And we can

learn to disregard such reactions and persuade others to do the same."

                                                                                             -Antonio Damasio