Cars are numbered on the left.
Match the cars with the most likely driver/owner on the right.
(Here's a familiar tune to help you think.)
How long did it take you? Of course there are no correct answers, but I'd be willing to bet that most people in this part of the country would record very similar matches.
I started thinking about this the other day on Highway 52 in Rochester, MN. I passed a car, saw the driver and said to myself, "I could have guessed that he'd be driving THAT car". Speculation; there and gone, no further consideration.
Two reflections.
1. Because of the tremendous amount of data filtering through our senses, our brain has a mechanism to departmentalize this input in order to process expeditiously. Without this ability, we'd be unable to function. In a way, this process shortcuts thought in favor of categorization.
When it comes to people, this is called stereotyping.
And, sometimes, it's called racial profiling.
2. Let's consider a match game of a different type. Imagine a list of personality features rather than a list of cars. These would be things like; Judgmental, Understanding, Arrogant, Open-minded, Conceited, Loving, Considerate, Selfish, Generous and Stingy. Imagine then, if there was just one person pictured. We'll call this person Christian.
Remembering how we process information, how would most brains identify the personality traits of Christian? What is the immediate, stereotypical gut-response to this person, or to the word itself?
Yes, it's our biology that expediently drops information into pre-defined categories. But that same biology is available to effect change because our experience and perceptions created those categories. It is in our power to revise those groupings.
"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35.
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