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Virtual Reality Experiment Wants To Put White People In Black Bodies

Molly McHugh (3774987) writes with an intriguing use of VR technology: "It's as simple as making a light-skinned person feel connected to a virtual, darker skinned self—a thought experiment pretty much impossible without the immersive potency of VR. The effect is achieved by outfitting participants in VR headsets with built-in head-tracking and motion capture capabilities that sync actual movement to virtual experience." From the article: Evolving from cruder methods, VR is a natural extension of research examining the ways that people think differently when made to feel like they are part of a meaningfully different social group, known as an outgroup. ... What’s most exciting about this channel of research is that it gets at the kind of complex, subtle prejudices that most people can’t even articulate if asked directly.

28 of 448 comments (clear)

  1. It has been done. by MagickalMyst · · Score: 5, Funny

    Barack Obama.

    --
    Political correctness is really just herd psychology pushed by insecure people who desperately seek social conformity.
    1. Re:It has been done. by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's one of those fun things in life: you get a well-raised, well-educated black man, and he's called all sorts of names by black people and white people alike. You get a poorly-educated, poorly-raised black man, and while we arrest him and throw him in jail for the crimes he inevitably (might have) committed, he's socially accepted.

      Figure this problem out and there may be a lot less dumb on planet earth.

  2. I bet... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    white people in black bodies don't commit as much crime...

    1. Re:I bet... by aardvarkjoe · · Score: 3, Insightful

      white people in black bodies don't commit as much crime...

      I'd bet that they commit just as much crime as black people of similar social culture and class.

      --

      How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
    2. Re:I bet... by KillAllNazis · · Score: 5, Funny
  3. Only for white people ? by itzly · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seems rather biased to think that only white people can have racial biases.

    1. Re:Only for white people ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      You can't be racist against white people. That's not how racism works.

    2. Re:Only for white people ? by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Seems rather biased to think that only white people can have racial biases.

      Time for you to report to the reeducation camp.

      --
      If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    3. Re:Only for white people ? by HornWumpus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Wait just a god damn second. Are you claiming sociology is a science? You have been misinformed. It's a circle jerk.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  4. Easier method by Charliemopps · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've an easier method. Adopt an African American Child. I did and my view on many social issues pretty much changed overnight.

    You tell your kids not to go to Chicago because of the crime, I tell mine not to go because of the police. I don't need a VR headset to see that reality.

    1. Re:Easier method by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      And having a black ( she isn't from africa) spouse, and therefore darker skinned children has proven the opposite for me. They get treated fine by police. Then again they go to school, don't rob and assault convenience store clerks, and yet have to be shot. But Im sure their time is just coming right? Couldn't be that actions have consequences in this life right? Its all racism....

    2. Re:Easier method by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      .... and yet have to be shot.

      They do? Sorry, that broken turn of phrase just made me laugh.

  5. Dr. Suess by Archeopteryx · · Score: 3, Funny

    Why do I think "Star-bellied Sneetch"?

    --
    Dog is my co-pilot.
  6. Racist experiment by johnlcallaway · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Why just black. Why not brown, red, or yellow.

    I lived in India for several months, I know what it's like to walk into a restaurant and have 20 pairs of eyes watch every move I make. I'm sure someone from Mexico or Senegal would experience the same thing.

    I know people of all skin colors that have lived among other people of different skin colors and I've heard plenty of stories to tell of ignorant people making rash judgements. I've heard people from India say racist things about people with dark skin, and I've heard people with dark skin say racist things about people with lighter skin. I know a white person that was stopped by a cop in a neighborhood where people with browner skin colors predominately live. He didn't complain about 'walking while white'.

    I'm sure that no matter where someone goes in this world, people with a skin color or any other attribute that is in the minority are viewed differently from people in the majority. What makes some people think they are experiencing something no one else in the world experiences or can understand? Or that only white people don't get it? Why was it in college that groups of people with similar attributes (i.e. ethnic background, religion, political leanings) all tended to group together and often made fun of everyone not like them.

    A good step in getting rid of racists attitudes is to ignore the morons who are racist and stop letting them interfere with our lives. Generalizing the attitudes and behaviors of an entire group of people just because of the traits of a small minority is prejudice.

    No matter what your skin color is.

    --
    I rarely read replies, it's my opinion and if you thought about your opinion a little more, I'm OK with that.
  7. Tired of this shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I am pretty damned tired of being presumed a racist because of the pallor of my skin.

    I'm fucking sick and tired of this incessant cry of racism every time something goes wrong for minorities.

    And I'm really fucking sick and tired of this whole racism issue being treated like some kind of thing you have to get fully on board with, show you care, say the right things, etc or you are somehow supporting racism. Progressives shit a brick when people started wearing American Flags on their lapels to "show" their patriotism. But they have no problem brow beating people into participating in shit to "voice their opposition" to racism.

    And I am absolutely, positively, fucking sick and tired of morons using terms like "feel connected", "subtle prejudices", "meaningfully different social group". Gawd! Fuck you, you stupid metro-sexual assholes.

    Fuck you. I'm not a racist, but I'm not wearing your damned ribbons or signing up for you dumbass sensitivity classes or anything else. I treat everybody with respect and expect the same in return.

    1. Re:Tired of this shit by sycodon · · Score: 5, Informative

      Or, people being accused of being racists every time they turn around.

      Believe it or not, the vast majority of people are decent people. They'll help you when you are down and they'll cheer you when you succeed.

      But I can understand the AC's point. They have been broad brushed as implicit racists simply because of the color of their skin. And while your first response is probably "welcome to the club", realize that you are being just as racist and bigoted as those you accuse.

      --
      When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    2. Re:Tired of this shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      heterosexual white male privilege he enjoys every fucking day of his life.

      I grew up dirt poor in Appalachia. Where is all this white privilege you speak of? Granted, it sure would have been nice to have grown up in an upper-class white family of bankers in Hawaii--like the current President who keeps telling me how much more privileged I am than he was. It sure would have been nice to have gotten the scholarships he got, which I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be eligible for. But I must have somehow missed the memo giving me instructions on how to cash in on my whiteness. Because I don't recall ever getting SHIT with my white skin.

      And I get pulled over by cops too, you know. And I'm pretty sure I'll go to prison if they catch me dealing drugs, or murdering someone, or attacking a cop. And I've got an uncle who used to get the shit kicked out of him by cops all the time for resisting arrest (maybe he forgot to carry his "I'm white, treat me like a king" card).

      Oh, and news flash for any of you SJW's who have never worked with any actual black people in any significant numbers: Black people can be every bit as racist as white people (sometimes even much more so). Work with them in a significant way sometime and you'll learn very fast that (given the opportunity) blacks only hire other blacks, for example. Only they can get away with it. Maybe the blacks have their own "I'm black, hire me" cards. I never got one of those either.

      Now, go ahead and mod me down, you SJW pussies. Or tell me I "just don't get it," even though you yourself live in a middle-class white suburb and have never been poor in your fucking life.

    3. Re:Tired of this shit by TWX · · Score: 4, Funny

      when you are working at Starbucks bitching about all those evil whiteys who show up at 6AM for their cups of "white privilege".

      What if I like my coffee black?

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    4. Re:Tired of this shit by sycodon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      All that shit you mentioned...

      I don't do it.
      I don't control anyone else that does these things.
      I can't stop anyone else who does these things.

      You need to focus your attention on the people that do. You need to STOP saying that all whites do it.

      --
      When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    5. Re:Tired of this shit by lgw · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Sure, I had it great growing up in a trailer in the Appellations, single mother, etc. Leave me out of your privilege claims and stop fucking stereotyping me based on the color of my skin, you damn racist bigot.

      I certainly understand that the mostly upper-middle-class-good-college Social Justice Warriors who have never done anything use with their life feel like they have unearned privilege. Yup, you do. That has little to do with race. Stop assuming that other people who look like you have a similar background. Stop assuming that there aren't people who look nothing like you but have the same background. That's exactly the sort of offensive stereotyping we're trying to stamp out!

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    6. Re:Tired of this shit by FuegoFuerte · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I didn't know what a Brahman was until I worked for one. And you're right... all of them I've met have been assholes, while the lower caste Indians I've known have been mostly pretty decent people. In fact, I've noticed a strong correlation between caste, hygiene, and personality. Lower caste Indians, from what I've observed, are often slightly less well-groomed, and are typically far nicer people. High-caste Indians will dress and groom immaculately, and be complete assholes.

      There are exceptions, but by and large this has been my repeated observation after working with hundreds of Indians over the years. I'm probably a racist for pointing it out, but whatever.

  8. 1960 "Black Like Me" experiment by peter303 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Journalist took this drug than made your skin dark and wrote a best-seller (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Like_Me) of his experiences. I remember the book influencing the civil rights debate.

  9. Imaginary reality to "prove" imaginary racism by mi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Imaginary reality to "prove" imaginary racism. How fitting...

    Hint: it ain't the skin-color. If "whitey" really were racist, Asians would've suffered from it too. But they are doing rather well. So well, in fact, that schools and colleges alike deduct points from applicants, who identify themselves as "Asians".

    The most likely explanation is single-parenthood rate: children growing up with only a mother (which is still the overwhelming majority of single-"parent" households) are much likelier to grow up with problems live sucky lives — all human civilizations knew this and frowned upon unwed mothers. Not because "sex is a sin", as is the common Illiberal's strawman, but because bringing a child into this world without a loving father is a sin... Heck, we know it too!

    For some reason, currently 67% of Black kids grow up in such families — compared with merely 17% of Asians and 25% of Whites... But only the KKKonservative Libertarians connect the dots.

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
  10. Re:Let's put Jews in virtual Palestinians in Gaza by grimmjeeper · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yeah, it would be interesting to see what happens if the residents of Gaza were turned into civilized people who were industrious and turned Gaza into an economically prosperous beachfront resort and started winning Nobel Prizes, just like regular Israel.

    It would be a bit of a change from murdering their own children to dig tunnels underneath their neighbors for the sole purposes of indiscriminately murdering people they've never met.

    The Israelites don't have to do that because they have an American backed and supplied military to do that for them.

  11. Tits by sycodon · · Score: 3, Funny

    Admit it. You just want to look down and see tits.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    1. Re:Tits by Talderas · · Score: 3, Funny

      "Oh, come on, man! I'm... They're here. They're right here. They've been here for a couple of arns, and I just had to... "
      "You are mentally damaged. "
      "I'm a guy. A guy. Guys dream about this sort of thing. "
      "I'll tell you one thing Crichton, if I find you've been dreaming anything else to my body I'll break your legs, even if they are mine."

      --
      "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
  12. Ahem. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Funny

    Do you think they'll be able to give us just certain parts of black bodies?

    Asking for a friend.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  13. Re:Stop it with this crap. by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I know millennials think they are the first generation that is morally superior and have the answers to everything."

    Every generation thinks they're superior,
    And the previous and next are inferior,
    But no matter your exterior,
    We have the same interior,
    So the Kruger-Dunning Effect bites your posterior.
    Burma Shave

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.