NOT RACISM—EVOLUTION—BRAIN FUNCTION—LOGIC

Today post George Floyd—we hear so many anecdotes of how Blacks are singled out for scrutiny —police officers stop their cars, store owners walk them down the aisle. Innocent and blameless yet they are singled out by suspicious cops and store owners,  And yes they may face bias and unfair treatment.  But is this the result of a racist society?  Or as some characterize it falsely “institutionalized racism”.   Or is the singling our of Afro-Americans citizens because of their past history? I think it is none of these.

The problem arises with how our brains work.  The human brain evolved to better adapt the organism to its dangerous environment.  Our brains are wired to make observations and then process that information into useable form which would serve to increase the survival of that individual.  A million years ago our ancestors,  hearing the roar of a lion from a thicket ahead of them,  from past experience recalled:that sound is associated with danger! So they turned around and slinked back—the way they came.

  Today,  we might call that form or reasoning inductive reasoning.  The most common inaccurate sort, but useful for survival.  In inductive reasoning we make observations from our experience or nature and construct more general conclusions regarding them.  Some term this as “reasoning from the particular to the general”.  The ancient Greeks, Aristotle and even modern day scientists use(d) inductive reasoning.   Sir Francis Bacon in the 1620s formalized the name and the usage.  In his attempt to develop a more structured —“scientific” thinking process which if used, he opined his method would reveal the order he imagined must occur in nature.  His efforts were later improved and modified into what we call the “Scientific Method”.  That process uses both inductive and deductive reasoning as well as experiment, formal review and repetition to arrive at greater certainty regarding how valid our conclusions are.

For example.  The 2016 FBI Crime Rates (“Crime in the USA” Table 21) tabulates a long list of crimes as well as the perpetrators and the race of those committing the offenses.   Perusing this list we find that under “Murder” Whites perpetrated (in 2016)  45% of those crimes, while Black (Af/Am) perpetrated 53%.  The category “Rape” indicates that  Whites perpetrated   68%,  while Blacks were responsible for  29%. For  Robbery: Whites were 43%, Blacks were 55%.  There are many categories of crimes listed in the Chart.  In total numbers,  Whites commit the vast majority of the crimes.  They  represent the majority of the population or about 72% while Blacks represent about a bit more than13%.  So one would expect that if crimes were equally distributed over the population Whites would generate more crime—there is more of them.   But the FBI Table 21 (2016) clearly indicates that crime rates for American Blacks (in 2016) were not at the level one would expect from a small minority—but in almost every category their data are well above the percentage they represent in the population.  (In most cases Blacks committed crimes at least twice as frequently as would be expected ).  There were few exceptions —one: for “driving under the influence” a category in which was represented by almost exactly their representation in the population.  There are many social, economic, cultural and societal as well as historic reasons for these facts. This piece can not address those issues, but only to say that they exist and should be addressed.

But what the FBI Chart does establish is that American Blacks are more prone to violent crime and other crimes, well above the level that would be expected from their percentage of the population. So here is where the inductive reasoning of both Blacks and Whites comes into play.  We are all hardwired to make observations in our world and draw conclusions about them.  When Walking down a dark city street and we are faced with a decision as to wether proceed in this direction —past a group of Black men lollygaggin on the street ahead of us...our inductive reasoning suggest to us that Danger lurks ahead and turning thecorner or going another way would be wiser.

Humans have survived over a million years because they make observations about their environment and use that information to alter their activities.  We know it is dangerous to drive a vehicle  on the double yellow line going around a curve on the highway, or to pick up a hot pot with a bare hand.

The FBI figures are not available to all of us,  but as a result of our own observation and experiences we all have a mental summary of their conclusions in our consciousness —things we have learned.    The FBI Chart 21 only formalizes the information.

It is true that inductive reasoning does not permit us to arrive at full assurance that our conclusions are valid.  In the over used example of black and white swans:  Because we only see white swans in our travels across a lake, we might conclude by inductive reasoning that “all swans are white”. But that is not a valid conclusion.  There may be —out there someplace—gray and black swans too. We would need more evidence, and both inductive and deductive reasoning to draw a valid conclusion.

But when we are forced to make a quick decisions regarding our own best interest, wellfare or survival we are likely to depend on conclusions we derived from simple observations or data gathered. In those cases we don’t need absolute validity—simple “more likely”” will do just fine.

When we employ a policeman to go out into the street to enforce societal rules and laws we need not require a PhD in Epistemology or Logic as a prerequisite. We expect a reasoning person, but one likely bound as most of us are to use inductive reasoning and get it right most of the time

The Black community has only the criminal elements of their own community to blame for the unfortunate or sometimes dangerous situations which occur when the larger community misapplies the reasoning process and mistakenly arrests a black college professor for “breaking and entering” when he was simply locked out of his own house.  Or a Black US Senator is followed down the aisle of a convenience store by the store clerk during a late at night visit.

Please let’s not accuse each other of  “racism”. First look to your own.  These reactions are not racist just simple misapplication of human brain hardwiring and dependence  on inductive reasoning.

The same argument could be applied to our Black citizens who generalize about the nature of our police force. They too are trapped by inductive reasoning. Both groups could “look to their own”.