Absolution for Dr. Watson?

[Puppycow]

Brain atrophy in elderly leads to unintended racism, depression, and problem gambling (http://www.psychologicalscience.org/media/releases/2007/vonhippel.cfm)
As we age, our brains slowly shrink in volume and weight. This includes significant atrophy within the frontal lobes, the seat of executive functioning. Executive functions include planning, controlling, and inhibiting thought and behavior. In the aging population, an inability to inhibit unwanted thoughts and behavior causes several social behaviors and cognitions to go awry.

In a study appearing in the October issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, University of Queensland psychologist, Bill von Hippel, reports that decreased inhibitory ability in late adulthood can lead to unintended prejudice, social inappropriateness, depression, and gambling problems.

Regarding prejudice, von Hippel and colleagues found that older white adults showed greater stereotyping toward African Americans than younger white adults did, despite being more motivated to control their prejudices. Von Hippel suggests that “because prejudice toward African Americans conflicts with prevailing egalitarian beliefs, older adults attempt to inhibit their racist feelings, but fail.”

[Rolfe]

Oh, that Dr. Watson! [light bulb illuminates]

Elementary, I suppose.

But wait a minute. He wasn't American, was he? The very different English social background would tend to influence the expected responses, I would have thought.

Rolfe.

[JJM]

Oh, that Dr. Watson! [light bulb illuminates]

Elementary, I suppose.

But wait a minute. He wasn't American, was he? The very different English social background would tend to influence the expected responses, I would have thought.

Rolfe.He's an American by birth.

[Rolfe]

OK, I didn't realise that.

Now I've lost the thread discussing what he actually said. Linky?

Rolfe.

[JJM]

Original Watson thread
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=96251

[Professor Yaffle]

Have you never seen "Life Story" with Watson played by Jeff Goldblum (and Crick by Tim Piggot-Smith)?

[And on a complete sidetrack, anyone (in the UK) been watching Rob Newman's The History of the World Backwards - with Watson and Crick slowly forgetting the secrets of DNA?

[Puppycow]

Oh, that Dr. Watson! [light bulb illuminates]

Elementary, I suppose.

But wait a minute. He wasn't American, was he? The very different English social background would tend to influence the expected responses, I would have thought.

Rolfe.

I hadn't even noticed the term 'African American' in the article.
I think Americans have developed an annoying tendency to refer to all Africans and Diaspora Africans as 'African Americans' out of habit. For example, American soldiers overseas tend to refer to black people as 'African Americans.' It's become just a synonym for black.

But, I see no reason why brain atrophy should have a substantially different effect for other nationalities. Are the British immune to racism? I think the article is suggesting that older people lose inhibitions, and as a result they say out loud what a younger person might have thought but suppressed.

[Puppycow]

Have you never seen "Life Story" with Watson played by Jeff Goldblum (and Crick by Tim Piggot-Smith)?

I'm afraid I've never seen it. How does it go? Was Watson always like that?

[Rolfe]

I hadn't even noticed the term 'African American' in the article.
I think Americans have developed an annoying tendency to refer to all Africans and Diaspora Africans as 'African Americans' out of habit. For example, American soldiers overseas tend to refer to black people as 'African Americans.' It's become just a synonym for black.

But, I see no reason why brain atrophy should have a substantially different effect for other nationalities. Are the British immune to racism? I think the article is suggesting that older people lose inhibitions, and as a result they say out loud what a younger person might have thought but suppressed.


Now I see the full context, the statement is very American in its cultural roots. When racism appears in Britain it's much more likely to be anti-Asian, particularly anti-Pakistani. The idea of "blacks" as some sort of inferior race is less often encountered, and I'd think it would be less likely to surface as an unconscious or suppressed attitude than a "Pakis go home" mentality.

Rolfe.

PS. Regarding your first point, there was a thread here about some Yank having stated that an "African American" invented algebra! Referring to the ancient Persian chappie, can't remember the name, who was domiciled in, well, Persia, and lived well before the existence of the Americas was known in the Old World.

[Dustin Kesselberg]

I'm pretty sure that he's been saying these things for a while.

[monoman]

Have you never seen "Life Story" with Watson played by Jeff Goldblum (and Crick by Tim Piggot-Smith)?

[And on a complete sidetrack, anyone (in the UK) been watching Rob Newman's The History of the World Backwards - with Watson and Crick slowly forgetting the secrets of DNA?

I remember "Life Story" but couldn't remember the name. Do you know of any bittorrent site it's on?

(I've checked youtube & google video)