Hidden Assumptions

      1. How did you react to your results?  Were you surprised?  Angry or hurt? Pleased?  Discuss what you felt and why you think you felt what you did.

I was a little surprised of my results, but not really angry or hurt. I knew that the results of course aren't 100% accurate, so I didn't take the results as explicitly saying I'm racist or judgmental. I think I felt like that because  of my opinion on tests like this one, they are never 100% accurate. 

       2. Do you believe that your test results say something about you that you should pay attention to?  Why or why not?

I honestly don't think the test results say something about me, because the only mistakes I made were just when I went to fast and didn't give myself time to process the information. I don't think the results necessarily mean I prefer one group over another.

        3. Do you think that these tests are valid?  When you first saw your results, did you question or accept the tests' validity?

I can see how the test could be an indicator of maybe subconscious preference but I didn't take the results as the absolute truth.  I think I did question the validity especially when the test said I moderately prefer thin people to fat people because the truth is that really believe that weight doesn't define a person at all. I don't think I've ever preferred someone simply because they're skinnier than another person, so that made me question the results. 

        4. Give examples of the cultural messages that may support attitudes linking a dominant group in your nation or culture with "good" or "superior" attributes and a subordinate group with "bad" or "inferior" ones. Are these attitudes generalizations that can be called stereotypes?  How can generalizations be distinguished from stereotypes?

I think that magazines in particular, and fashion ads, give messages that support skinny people, because you rarely see anyone large in them. I think that they are sometimes portrayed as being superior because that body type is more shown to be the most attractive. I also think that some attitudes society has in general towards some nationalities or ethnicities could be considered stereotypes. Some people are in a state of mind where they think that one trait applies to a whole group of people, no exceptions, and in my opinion that's a stereotype. A generalization is different in my opinion because I think that's when someone believes a trait usually applies to a certain group of people, but they don't assume or expect that every person within that group has that trait. 

        5. If some of our consciously held beliefs, attitudes, and values are undermined by what Gladwell, another writer we'll be reading soon....http://www.gladwell.com/blink/index.html, calls 'rapid cognition' (others call this 'intuitive thinking' or even 'gut feelings'), what do you suggest we can do to combat jumping to (false) conclusions?

I'm not sure if it's possible to stop jumping to conclusions. It seems, and is backed up in the readings, that subconsciously we all have rapid cognition, and we can't turn it off. It's human nature and we can't really control it. I think we can try and slow ourselves down before making a conclusion and that may help, but I don't think we can make it so that our subconscious has no say in how we feel about a conclusion.