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We are walking neural networks. Pattern recognition is what we do best. Stereotypes are recognized patterns. Are they 100% accurate? No way. But they provide g
by coolspot 6y ago
We are walking neural networks. Pattern recognition is what we do best. Stereotypes are recognized patterns.
Are they 100% accurate? No way. But they provide good starting point for making decisions, especially quick decisions your life depends on.
E.g. should I continue walking on this side of the road when there is a homeless (recognized by cloths) guy ahead holding a knife?
It is possible that he is a nice person and maybe not even homeless, just having very casual style? Holding knife that he just found and trying to find it’s owner as a good citizen?
Maybe.
But for slim chance that he is a homeless schitzophrenic that going to slash illusionary monsters approaching him with that knife, I would cross the road and walk on another side.
- shadowgovt 6y agoAnd of course worth noting, relying on them is a bad shortcut when there is time and resources to gather more data.
- Kednicma 6y agoWorse, we need to keep in mind that stereotypes can be totally wrong if they aren't inferring the correct causality. If we have three observables P, Q, R, and physical causations P -> Q and P -> R, then stereotype-style pattern inference will incorrectly conclude either Q -> R or R -> Q. More generally, stereotype-oriented reasoning has no place for the argument from the outside that, when we mechanically disprove a stereotype's existence, we must refute the entire chain of correlations which led to the stereotype's establishment.
- kohtatsu 6y agoPretty specific stereotype you got there with the homeless schitzophrenic. I don't think anyone is worried about stereotypes being applied when determining how far to get away from someone with a knife, though I imagine black people experience more roads crossings than normal, knife or not.