Seeing no stranger is an act of will. In brain-imaging studies, when people are shown a picture of a person of a different race long enough for comprehension, it is possible for them to dampen their unconscious fear response. We can change how we see. We shouldn’t confuse this with suppressing our biased thoughts. Saying to yourself Don’t be racist, don’t be racist doesn’t work. It actually increases the frequency and power of the original biased thought! Instead you have to choose to think of the face in front of you as belonging to a person. In these studies, it was as simple as wondering
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