Paul Bloom - Prejudice and Bias: Question for homework for Tuesday 29th September

http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_bloom_can_prejudice_ever_be_a_good_thing?language=en

Ask the questions in full sentences in your notebooks, trying to use the vocabulary underneath to help you.

1) What does Paul Bloom say we tend to associate with the words "prejudice and bias"?

2) In his introduction, what is Paul Bloom´s personal attitude to prejudice and bias?

3) Why does Paul Bloom think we have become "good" at stereotyping? Why is it a necessary skill for us?

4) What does he use the idea of the dog, chair and apple to show us?

5) In your opinion, is the woman in the video´s question about giving "foreign aid" a legitimate worry?

6) What does the case study about Kandinsky and Klee prove to us?

7) What happened on Ebay with the sale of the baseball cards?

8) What has been the major catalyst in America for moral change/challenging bias and prejudice? What do you think about this? 

9) I think prejudice and bias illustrate a fundamental duality of human nature. We have gut feelings, instincts, emotions, and they affect our judgments and our actions for good and for evil, but we are also capable of rational deliberation and intelligent planning, and we can use these to accelerate and nourish our emotions, and in other cases stop them. And it's in this way that reason helps us create a better world.

Do you agree or disagree with this final statement?

Useful Vocab

As far as i´m concerned/In my opinion

I´m no expert but generally speaking …

This idea/case study suggests that ...

It’s inevitable that …

Although it seems like a huge generalisation, maybe there is some truth in this stereotype because

Whilst I don´t find the texts personally offensive, stereotypes do lead to …

To marry up to

To consist of

To give rise to

To end up believing

To wind me up

To fit in with

To challenge preconceptions

A cliche