Reading this article really made me think about many things that I had not really thought about too much before. The main point that the writer makes in this article is the common analogy of, "never judge a book by its cover." The writer stated how easy it is to fall into the 'trap' of making decisions without thinking things through first. The example that the writer used for this was on President Harding. President Harding was a tall, dark, handsome man that the entire U.S.A fell for immediately. Due to his appearance, we elected him as president thinking he would be a strong and powerful leader. Pesident Harding was the opposite, for he was not a very intelligent man who enjoyed drinking, poker, and women. What surprised me, after reading this article, is how stupid we were for not doing any background research on him before electing him president. Although it was a poor decision as a country electing him, it was a good learning experience moving forward.
Some good qualites that every leader should have are intelligence, some leadership background, and a good vision for what the country can and should be. Although the temptation is to pick the more intiminating physical presence, one must realize that physical attractiveness is not always the answer. You must avoid making the initial unconcious decision, because it is not always the right one.
Last week, I took the IAT. I took the racial test, and the results that I got back were eye opening. It showed how i had a strong association between weapons and african americans. Now trust me, I'm no racist, but my unconcious decisions showed that I had a slight bias. The test results surprised me because I am strongly against racism and I don't feel pressured or uncomfortable around people of different race.
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