How the brain creates bias: Racism-awareness exhibit at Moncton museum
Behind Racism encourages mindfulness, reflection in participants through series of science-based activities
Pam Cyr and Joanne Poirier needed a moment to process their experiences after they attended a thought-provoking exhibition recently.
They work for the City of Moncton, which has encouraged all of its employees to attend Behind Racism: Challenging the way we think, a travelling exhibit now at the Resurgo Place museum.
Created by the Ontario Science Centre in partnership with the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, it helps people understand, and reflect on, how the brain works and the science behind bias.
With interactive, science-based activities in the first stage, visitors to the exhibit learn how the brain acts quickly to make a decision based on what the person has learned over time. But when challenged to think differently — the reactions slow down.
"It's almost like you can't take your first instinct of what situation you're in, you cannot be as quick to form an opinion," said Cyr.
The activities were as simple as identifying colours and sorting between junk food and healthy food, but always with a twist to trick the brain.
It
took less time for Pam Cyr to label junk food with bad words and
healthy food with good words. But when asked to do the opposite, her
reactions got slower. (Rhythm Rathi/CBC)
Cyr said she found it difficult to co-ordinate her physical response as her brain came up with quick answers, sometimes leading her to press the wrong button with her hands.
Sophie Auffrey, the museum's heritage development officer, said these quick reactions the brain makes can become the source of bias, which can lead to racism and discrimination.
"So basically, biases help us think faster, help us think quicker," she said.
"It's a natural thing to have biases, we just have to be careful about what they can do when we try to understand the world."
The second part of the exhibit displays statistical data, graphs and anecdotal videos about racism in Canada.
This section shows how discrimination happens across various sectors, such as in education, justice, health care and the workplace.
Sophie Auffrey of Resurgo Place says the exhibition will be open to public until Jan. 5. (Rhythm Rathi/CBC)
It also displays a large graph that depicts racially motivated hate crime, based on Statistics Canada data.
In the final section, visitors get some tips to identify bias and navigate through it. It also gives them some time to reflect.
After finishing a meditation activity in the last section, Poirier advises everybody to "take a moment and think about it, before you react."
Auffrey said the intent is to make people aware that "race and racism is a social construct and we can deconstruct it."
The exhibition is open to the public and will remain at the Resurgo Place museum until Jan. 5.
A
graph based on data from StatsCan depicts how white people in Canada
have the highest population, while Black people in Canada have faced the
highest number of hate crimes. (Rhythm Rathi/CBC)
Walter Stoddard, a researcher at the Ontario Science Centre, said racism is a topic of pain and his team wanted to create an experience where people could feel safe.
"You go through with your own understanding and you take from it your own learning, a very individual experience," he said.
"But at the same time, we hope generally that there is this understanding that you ultimately can take conscious control of your decision-making, you can make better decisions."
The research and design work on the project began in 2019 and the exhibit was made public in February of 2022, confirmed the Ontario Science Centre in an email.
Stoddard said since then it has been traveling across the country.
"The antidote to thoughtlessness is mindfulness, and so if we can be more mindful, more attentive to the decision-making process we make, well, we will be better in all things that we did," he said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Amos
David Amos
Greg Gore (formerly Greggore)
They are playing with actual human traits on how the mind works, but linking it to racism is a flaw. Serious flaw.
Bad science is worse than no science.
David Amos
Reply to Greg Gore
Absolutely
John Smith
Reply to Greg Gore
That is the flavour du jour thought and with a lot of funding tied to studies through that very lens, it's not surprising when everything starts to approach from that angle. When all you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail
The Nanny State always has many make work projects for its faithful followers in order to confuse the minds of peoplekind
Peter Hill
Science making people think is is amazing to see in action.
David Amos
Reply to Peter Hill
Surely you jest
Denis Reagan
Try it?
David Amos
Reply to Denis Reagan
Denis Reagan
"the brain acts quickly to make a decision based on what the person has learned over time. But when challenged to think differently — the reactions slow down."
Over a very short time, young children learn from their parents things that are not true at all, and need to shake-off these thoughts as they grow-up and if they can at all.
What I was lucky to break free from at about ten years old, was the belief that the royal family, had special blood, were majestic, superior and above all we commoners.
A shame how the overly-devoted monarchists today are keeping Camelot alive.
Reply to Denis Reagan
Actually, they did have special blood.....Queen Victoria was a carrier for a type of hemophilia which was then passed down to subsequent generations and spread across to German, Russian and Spanish royalty....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haemophilia_in_European_royalty
David Amos
I am a Blue Blood who laughs at the rest of us
Reply to Denis Reagan
Reply to John Smith
Well put
John Smith
So, is the scientific exhibit saying it is a totally natural, and that we should also totally ignore it
Jack Whitehead
Reply to John Smith
Science based. So yes, Like the sesame street song, one of these things is not like the other.
Denis Reagan
Reply to John Smith
The following helps to explain that:
"The antidote to thoughtlessness is mindfulness, and so if we can be more mindful, more attentive to the decision-making process we make, well, we will be better in all things that we did," he said.
Reply to Jack Whitehead
Through Sesame Street, maybe the kids learn to think about one or the other.
Reply to Denis Reagan
It is always a good idea to revisit old ideas and be open to new ones, it will also be interesting to see, down the road, if any studies are done to show how much the extra awareness has helped solve issues as old as humanity, vs how much the hyper focus of everything through a specific lens has kept old issues on the boil where they may have cooled down more of their own accord
Peter Hill
Reply to John Smith
It’s not natural, has only existed for a few hundred years.
John Smith
Reply to Peter Hill
tribal ism and instinctual judgement are only a few hundred years old? I think you need a history refresher.
John Smith
Reply to Peter Hill
try ball ism, instinct and judgement are only a few hundred years old? I think you need a his story refresher.
Cecile Smith
Reply to John Smith
It is natural, but when we think about our bias, we can do better.
John Smith
Reply to Cecile Smith
Of course, and fortunately, if you look at history, in many ways we are better, far, far better, which is great. The question is, how to keep getting better, what is a realistic expectation? It would beget if we had a study, snapped our fingers and could fix it all overnight, but that's not going to happen, so how do we balance the hyper focus on our differences, while trying to maintain that we are not different? I certainly don't think this should be ignored simply thinking out loud, in my lifetime I have seen a shift from color blindness to hyper focusing everything through a specific lens. Humans tend to do everything to the extreme, and I suspect the correct approach is somewhere in the balanced middle, we just don't do "middle ground" very well.
David Amos
Reply to John Smith
Amen
Reply to John Smith