Rooting Out Problems

Ask any humanist or person who believes that human beings are the most superior form of intelligence on the planet and they'll tell you that they key that separates us from common animals is our understanding of higher learning such as math and science. But every once in a while there are news reports and 'official' press releases in the news about the 'latest scientific discovery' that makes me wonder if any of this is actual proof of our superiority or just something to justify getting paid. Take for example the report that came out of England by the National Children's Bureau earlier this week.

Apparently after exhaustive study, the Bureau determined that toddlers can already show racist tendencies and so they should be studied analyzed to ensure that they grow up to be racially tolerant and nothing less. On the surface it sounds like an intelligent and worthwhile determination but how is this great 'discovery' to be made? Simple, by gauging the reaction of children based on how they respond when new or foreign foods are placed in front of them. Example, the Bureau found that if a child responded with 'Yuck' when having a plate of foreign food placed in front of them (and by foreign I mean exotic foods that they normally wouldn't eat) then they were more likely to grow up to be racially prejudiced. Now I don't know about you but this just seems highly illogical to me and I'll tell you why.

Any kid I have encountered (save for a few true foodies or gluttons) have always reacted to any new food with a bit of hesitation. And I feel that the conclusion that this Bureau has come up with is just ridiculous. Here's why. I'm of Indian origin but I live in the United States. I grew up here so naturally like many first generation kids, I grew up eating the food from here. When I first had tastes of Indian foods I wasn't as excited and perhaps I had a 'yuck' reaction myself (now I know better) but by the criteria of the Bureau, doesn't this make me an anti-Indian? Now I'm sure there's more to this analysis than meets the eye (at least I hope so) but I understand how difficult it is to determine the causes for things like racism but isn't this a bit much?

I guess some organizations feel that some seemingly logical explanations are better than no logical explanations at all though I find that very hard to believe. I'm sure racist tendencies form at a very early age and though there may be some merit to what this study has found, I feel the environment is a very prevalant factor in helping determine the root cause as well. I mean if you have parents or family or friends that behave very racistly then you are likely to have kids who have the same tendencies. If the environment that a kid is raised in is full of people grimacing at anything outside their normal environment, aren't they going to assume that's the way things are and that's the way it should be? Passing the blame onto food doesn't seem to be the solution. Though the study is quick to caveat their findings and say that this reaction may be a normal kid-like reaction, they do wish to show that it is a good indicator. I think it just stinks.