This is a conversation I'd love to have while sitting around drinking a few beers, but in lieu of my lack of time...

Mirror neurons (or a similar mimetic learning mechanism) probably play a huge role in all modes of priming. Another study I read happened in Britain with a test similar to the GRE. In that study (of men) they were all given a test of "analytical reasoning" and then randomly split into two groups. The two groups were then given two separate questionnaires: one group had to answer questions about college professors while the other group had to answer questions about soccer hooligans. After finishing the respective questionnaires both groups were then directed to take another analytical reasoning test. Across the board every person asked about college professors scored better on the test the second time around while every person quizzed about soccer hooligans saw a drop in score.

On the physical side it is well established that watching a person jump helps you jump higher: our muscles receive signals from the brain that prime them to jump when we see somebody else do it. Isaac Newton once wrote to Robert Hooke "(i)f I have seen farther it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants." From a neurological perspective Newton only missed the truth by a hair, we are able to see farther and farther because we keep sharing with each other how far we are able to see. Through empathy we are able to apply other people's experiences to our own lives and broaden/limit our own ideas and abilities as a result.

On one hand I think this has been incredibly beneficial to humanity's success as we've been able to build upon the knowledge and experiences of our ancestors. On the other hand, I think some of the consequences can also be disastrous unless we begin to consciously face their repercussions. A lot of people find the cases of racism and sexism to be overstated (just to take two examples). From some of my family, for instance, I have heard things like "slavery ended a long time ago, people need to get over it." The problem, unfortunately, is that if neuroscience's discoveries about human learning mechanisms are correct then expunging the results of cultural biases (e.g. women aren't as good at math as men) becomes something that we must consciously think about in order to have any hope of breaking our self-limiting patterns. In other words, conscious recognition of our stereotyping behaviors is to some of our current social problems/limitations what vaccines are to viruses. We can sit around and argue about whether or not people with darker skin pigment in America are still affected by the cultural attitudes prevalent in the slavery era, or whether or not women still struggle against pre-suffrage mentalities, but the findings of modern neuroscience make such an argument as worthwhile as one about angels dancing on a needle point. By default every single one of us carries the advantages and disadvantages of our culture's past and refusing to acknowledge that reality only insures that the virus will keep spreading.

Now, once we have these stats and studies that demonstrate how race and gender preference operate in an institutional way to create an unfair playing field, do you think the right-wing folks will accept the stats and studies and let us move on to talking about how we might want to level the playing field a bit? 

Do you think the more right wing folks will reflect on the conviction of the black man who shot and killed a white teenager in his yard and decide that race played a significant part in the decision to charge and try him?  

Because, once you have the science, the data on display to show that race bias is profound in its impact, I think you have to move to a solution that lowers (or removes? what a dreamer I am) the impact of race or gender bias.  

400 prominent scientists have issued a report saying the right wingers will not accept the statistics of 400 prominent scientists if they results do not fit their pre-conceived world view. I think I read that somewhere.  

Not a peep here from the folks who think they have no race and gender bias or who think that race and gender bias doesn't play a significant role in our communities.

This is a post that only left wing eggheads could love.  I like it quite a lot.