Post

It's interesting to think about how this actually works in our lives. Remember that the relational frames happen instantaneously, as they are responses to environmental stimuli. They are also generalized emotions or thoughts related to *other stimuli*. That is, the 'triggering' environmental stimuli

Well, That Was Really Spooky@thediscoveryofzero.com

All of which to say this is basically the science behind implicit bias. There are frames that we have built up for *every single stimulus* in our lives. It can just sit there latently, coloring our responses. Or it can be embedded within tapestries of rules, assumptions and worldviews.

has taken on associations with another - usually abstract stimuli - across multiple relational frames, such as temporality, causality, functionality, etc. So, for instance, this is how a perfectly normal looking brown skinned person evokes fear in a white person: they have taken on associations

across multiple relational frames. What those frames are and how they came to be requires further analysis of environmental contingencies in the learning history - what have they been exposed to, etc. And it also of course looks at the behavior and language of the white person.

Here's a classic example that happens between conservatives and liberals. The C will say something that the L views as racist. The L will point this out. The C will deny it, at least knowing racism is socially unacceptable, and likely agreeing, and say the L is being too sensitive.

If we stipulate that conservatism prefers hierarchy, feels white christian culture is superior, and believes capitalist wealth is the best determinant of human worth, even if it won't explicitly say it, or even admit it. The logic of these beliefs leads to assumptions about the poor, the rich,

whites and minorities. All of these are learning histories across many relational frames. The conservative is 'primed' to make associations between white people and virtue/success/safety, and minorities and immorality/failure/danger.

In our example, the conservative responds to some stimulus involving a minority group - maybe he made a joke about dangerous illegal immigrants (which would be racist to focus on because non immigrants are actually more violent). It was instantaneous to him. When he thinks 'immigrant',

0 reposts0 likes

part of what he sees and feels is 'violence'. Most of it is likely unconscious, either never reflected upon or at least not in that moment. (This is also a large part of conservative epistemology: avoiding reflection. At its deepest root, it is anti-liberal, meaning it's highest authority is

traditional dogma. Any outside authorities trained inwards, self-critically, threaten to subvert its traditional authority, so they are routinely shunned. Often discounted via conspiracy, misdirection or brute force "This is the way we've always done it")

The important thing to note is that these associations are completely 'real' to him. The feelings of fear, maybe anger, maybe hatred, are real. The thoughts and memories certainly are. Even if the facts aren't, to him they are. And even the outlandish MAGA nonsense is real - or feels, seems real.

Because - and I've thought about this for a while - to be conservative is to move through the world in a really fucked up headspace. To be a white christian capitalist supremacist introduces so many rules and assumptions into daily life, that conflict with reality, often with basic human dignity,