Re:The Implicit Association Test falls short of basic scient...
by throwanem on Tuesday December 05, 2017 @09:48AM
(#15851977)
I'd guess it has to do with the loss of a measure thought to be able to reliably quantify unexamined racism in a novel way.
It's one thing to say to someone, "even if you don't realize it and don't think it's true, you're at least a little racist," and have to leave it at that. Without some means of substantiating the claim, you don't have a good counter for the immediate "no, I'm not!" that such a statement is very likely to provoke. You're likely to end up with pointless recrimination on both sides, because what else, really, have you got? It's semiotically equivalent to telling someone they've "sinned in their heart", in the absence of any tangible evidence beyond your fervent belief this must be so - and exactly as useful as that, besides.
The IAT offered a means of substantiating the claim. Armed therewith, you could say, "even if you don't realize it, you're at least a little bit racist, and I can prove it." That's a different and rather stronger proposition, and it's something which I think I don't too far miss the mark in saying that it's something a lot of people have been looking for for a long time. I can see why someone who believes he's finally found that thing might find it difficult to acknowledge that there's less substance to it than initially imagined. And for similar reasons, I can understand why an otherwise objective researcher might have the same trouble.
It's one thing to say to someone, "even if you don't realize it and don't think it's true, you're at least a little racist," and have to leave it at that. Without some means of substantiating the claim, you don't have a good counter for the immediate "no, I'm not!" that such a statement is very likely to provoke. You're likely to end up with pointless recrimination on both sides, because what else, really, have you got? It's semiotically equivalent to telling someone they've "sinned in their heart", in the absence of any tangible evidence beyond your fervent belief this must be so - and exactly as useful as that, besides.
The IAT offered a means of substantiating the claim. Armed therewith, you could say, "even if you don't realize it, you're at least a little bit racist, and I can prove it." That's a different and rather stronger proposition, and it's something which I think I don't too far miss the mark in saying that it's something a lot of people have been looking for for a long time. I can see why someone who believes he's finally found that thing might find it difficult to acknowledge that there's less substance to it than initially imagined. And for similar reasons, I can understand why an otherwise objective researcher might have the same trouble.