Virtual Reality Experiment Wants To Put White People In Black Bodies 448
Molly McHugh (3774987) writes with an intriguing use of VR technology: "It's as simple as making a light-skinned person feel connected to a virtual, darker skinned self—a thought experiment pretty much impossible without the immersive potency of VR. The effect is achieved by outfitting participants in VR headsets with built-in head-tracking and motion capture capabilities that sync actual movement to virtual experience." From the article: Evolving from cruder methods, VR is a natural extension of research examining the ways that people think differently when made to feel like they are part of a meaningfully different social group, known as an outgroup.
... What’s most exciting about this channel of research is that it gets at the kind of complex, subtle prejudices that most people can’t even articulate if asked directly.
It has been done. (Score:5, Funny)
Tired of this shit (Score:4, Insightful)
I am pretty damned tired of being presumed a racist because of the pallor of my skin.
I'm fucking sick and tired of this incessant cry of racism every time something goes wrong for minorities.
And I'm really fucking sick and tired of this whole racism issue being treated like some kind of thing you have to get fully on board with, show you care, say the right things, etc or you are somehow supporting racism. Progressives shit a brick when people started wearing American Flags on their lapels to "show" their patriotism. But they have no problem brow beating people into participating in shit to "voice their opposition" to racism.
And I am absolutely, positively, fucking sick and tired of morons using terms like "feel connected", "subtle prejudices", "meaningfully different social group". Gawd! Fuck you, you stupid metro-sexual assholes.
Fuck you. I'm not a racist, but I'm not wearing your damned ribbons or signing up for you dumbass sensitivity classes or anything else. I treat everybody with respect and expect the same in return.
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Tits (Score:4, Funny)
Admit it. You just want to look down and see tits.
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Re:Tits (Score:4, Funny)
"Oh, come on, man! I'm... They're here. They're right here. They've been here for a couple of arns, and I just had to... "
"You are mentally damaged. "
"I'm a guy. A guy. Guys dream about this sort of thing. "
"I'll tell you one thing Crichton, if I find you've been dreaming anything else to my body I'll break your legs, even if they are mine."
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If you're white, and want to be a minority and be treated like a worthless piece of shit, all you have to do is go work for an Indian management chain at Microsoft (or probably any other big tech company). Want to get a bad review because of the color of your skin? Be white. Want to work 16-hour days while your bosses are off playing golf? Be white - your Indian coworkers will be off playing golf with your bosses, so you get to do their work.
Want to claim that you're a minority who's been discriminated
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I don't really care too much about making social commentaries or judgements. I just think it would be interesting to see how it affects you psychologically when you are a treated differently by society. I suspect that you'll quickly become a different person and behave and perceive the world like that other person. You might ever see yourself behaving in a manner that you despise in others. It would be quite an eff
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I didn't know what a Brahman was until I worked for one. And you're right... all of them I've met have been assholes, while the lower caste Indians I've known have been mostly pretty decent people. In fact, I've noticed a strong correlation between caste, hygiene, and personality. Lower caste Indians, from what I've observed, are often slightly less well-groomed, and are typically far nicer people. High-caste Indians will dress and groom immaculately, and be complete assholes.
There are exceptions, but b
Re:Tired of this shit (Score:5, Informative)
Or, people being accused of being racists every time they turn around.
Believe it or not, the vast majority of people are decent people. They'll help you when you are down and they'll cheer you when you succeed.
But I can understand the AC's point. They have been broad brushed as implicit racists simply because of the color of their skin. And while your first response is probably "welcome to the club", realize that you are being just as racist and bigoted as those you accuse.
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Re:Tired of this shit (Score:5, Insightful)
All that shit you mentioned...
I don't do it.
I don't control anyone else that does these things.
I can't stop anyone else who does these things.
You need to focus your attention on the people that do. You need to STOP saying that all whites do it.
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Black people are the most guilty when it comes to keeping racism alive. Many of the rest of us have already moved past trivial things like skin color.
aparantly not. Don't you find that statement somewhat contradictory. You feel the need to judge all black persons as one. Isn't making such a stereotype, and classifying all inviduals as a whole textbook racism? The problem isn't "black people", or "white people", its "racist assholes".
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No. See, that tl;dr leaves out charming phrases like "stupid metro-sexual assholes" in an attempt to make the person I replied to sound reasonable.
It is actually quite easy to express disagreement with someone or something without resorting to childish insults. I'm doing it right now, in fact, and anyone who claims that they treat everyone with respect should be expected to do likewise.
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How, exactly, is suggesting that someone is a racist, especially suggesting that they are racist and just too stupid to know it, considered treating anyone with respect?
If you call me a racist, expect to get a nice barrage of expletives back in your face, respectfully of course.
Re:Tired of this shit (Score:5, Insightful)
heterosexual white male privilege he enjoys every fucking day of his life.
I grew up dirt poor in Appalachia. Where is all this white privilege you speak of? Granted, it sure would have been nice to have grown up in an upper-class white family of bankers in Hawaii--like the current President who keeps telling me how much more privileged I am than he was. It sure would have been nice to have gotten the scholarships he got, which I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be eligible for. But I must have somehow missed the memo giving me instructions on how to cash in on my whiteness. Because I don't recall ever getting SHIT with my white skin.
And I get pulled over by cops too, you know. And I'm pretty sure I'll go to prison if they catch me dealing drugs, or murdering someone, or attacking a cop. And I've got an uncle who used to get the shit kicked out of him by cops all the time for resisting arrest (maybe he forgot to carry his "I'm white, treat me like a king" card).
Oh, and news flash for any of you SJW's who have never worked with any actual black people in any significant numbers: Black people can be every bit as racist as white people (sometimes even much more so). Work with them in a significant way sometime and you'll learn very fast that (given the opportunity) blacks only hire other blacks, for example. Only they can get away with it. Maybe the blacks have their own "I'm black, hire me" cards. I never got one of those either.
Now, go ahead and mod me down, you SJW pussies. Or tell me I "just don't get it," even though you yourself live in a middle-class white suburb and have never been poor in your fucking life.
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I'm white and I was the first guy he hired into the newly formed department.
Re:Tired of this shit (Score:5, Funny)
What if I like my coffee black?
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Re:Tired of this shit (Score:5, Interesting)
Sure, I had it great growing up in a trailer in the Appellations, single mother, etc. Leave me out of your privilege claims and stop fucking stereotyping me based on the color of my skin, you damn racist bigot.
I certainly understand that the mostly upper-middle-class-good-college Social Justice Warriors who have never done anything use with their life feel like they have unearned privilege. Yup, you do. That has little to do with race. Stop assuming that other people who look like you have a similar background. Stop assuming that there aren't people who look nothing like you but have the same background. That's exactly the sort of offensive stereotyping we're trying to stamp out!
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This is exactly the problem with the 'white privilege' narrative. You don't realize it is the definition of stereotyping.
You only live in your viewpoint. I happen to be white, but you have no right to suppose anything about me, what challenges I've faced, what unfair advantage I may or may not have had. Maybe you carry some guilt. That is fine and I honestly respect the self-reflection.
My parents valued education also, and I feel no guilt about that. They would gladly spend money on tuition ove
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Oh no! I'm 102% African, with a 2% margin of error [youtube.com]!
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I do it every year. It's called "getting a decent tan."
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Along with another more or less tongue-in-cheek version [yahoo.com].
Re:It has been done. (Score:5, Insightful)
It's one of those fun things in life: you get a well-raised, well-educated black man, and he's called all sorts of names by black people and white people alike. You get a poorly-educated, poorly-raised black man, and while we arrest him and throw him in jail for the crimes he inevitably (might have) committed, he's socially accepted.
Figure this problem out and there may be a lot less dumb on planet earth.
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Ordinary people are pro-torture. Thanks 24! Thanks GWB! Thanks Obama!
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So your whole country is being incinerated from the air. You have a few downed pilots who could tell you a thing or two about how to stop them.
Case Closed.
Only we hanged the Japanese torturers for doing that, and rightly so.
"Should any American soldier be so base and infamous as to injure any [prisoner]. . . I do most earnestly enjoin you to bring him to such severe and exemplary punishment as the enormity of the crime may require. Should it extend to death itself, it will not be disproportional to its guilt at such a time and in such a cause... for by such conduct they bring shame, disgrace and ruin to themselves and their country." -- George Washington, charge to the Northern Expeditionary Force, Sept. 14, 1775
You are a coward and a monster.
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Delightfully I live in a country where beating someone up because you don't like what they've done is illegal.
Maybe you should move.
I bet... (Score:4, Funny)
white people in black bodies don't commit as much crime...
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white people in black bodies don't commit as much crime...
I'd bet that they commit just as much crime as black people of similar social culture and class.
Re:I bet... (Score:5, Funny)
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Here's the experiment they should try (Score:3)
They should issue the VR goggles to the cops an make white people look black.
Only for white people ? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Only for white people ? (Score:5, Funny)
You can't be racist against white people. That's not how racism works.
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Poe's law [wikipedia.org] strikes again!
Re:Only for white people ? (Score:4, Insightful)
Wait just a god damn second. Are you claiming sociology is a science? You have been misinformed. It's a circle jerk.
Re:Only for white people ? (Score:4, Insightful)
Seems rather biased to think that only white people can have racial biases.
Time for you to report to the reeducation camp.
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Not bias. Clickbait.
The paper doesn't actually say anything about white people being put in black bodies. That bit is from the headline from the Daily Dot.
MMO old hat (Score:3)
". Whatâ(TM)s most exciting about this channel of research is that it gets at the kind of complex, subtle prejudices that most people canâ(TM)t even articulate if asked directly."
This is sort of MMO old news. Any MMO with sufficient character customization options will let you create a black (human) or female avatar.
And anyone whose 'gender-bended' or 'race-bended' can tell you all kinds of ways they were subtly treated differently as a result.
Just an observation. I'm not saying this research is worthless or anything. Its an interesting avenue of study.
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well, you missed the most critical point. How does the person in VR feel and act when they are of a different color?
Soming no avatar can do.
Of course, MMOs are some of the worse places for any experiment where you want the result to be applicable outside an MMO.
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well, you missed the most critical point. How does the person in VR feel and act when they are of a different color?
Soming no avatar can do.
I disagree. It definitely impacts how many people act. VR vs avatar -- what's the difference? If you put on a long sleeve shirt and gloves you don't see -yourself- even in the real world unless you look in a mirror.
How other people treat you is your primary "feedback" mechanism.
What makes this better than an MMO really? (Everquest even has facial expression / camera sup
Easier method (Score:5, Interesting)
I've an easier method. Adopt an African American Child. I did and my view on many social issues pretty much changed overnight.
You tell your kids not to go to Chicago because of the crime, I tell mine not to go because of the police. I don't need a VR headset to see that reality.
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And having a black ( she isn't from africa) spouse, and therefore darker skinned children has proven the opposite for me. They get treated fine by police. Then again they go to school, don't rob and assault convenience store clerks, and yet have to be shot. But Im sure their time is just coming right? Couldn't be that actions have consequences in this life right? Its all racism....
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.... and yet have to be shot.
They do? Sorry, that broken turn of phrase just made me laugh.
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.... and yet have to be shot.
They do? Sorry, that broken turn of phrase just made me laugh.
LOL.. - sorry, that's a pointless cliche, but I literally really did. I hadn't caught that when I first read the comment. Kinda made my day. What a difference the order of two words makes.
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Certain types of black people get treated very well in Chicago by the police, others like trash. That is not racism, there is another kind of social stratification going on.
suggesting adoption for purpose of making social experiment is silly.
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Certain types of black people get treated very well in Chicago by the police, others like trash. That is not racism, there is another kind of social stratification going on.
suggesting adoption for purpose of making social experiment is silly.
Yes, if they would just behave properly they'd not have a problem. That's what you're saying? Because... that's what you're saying.
Change the above experiment into one where guys pop out from behind dumpsters with guns and test who the cop shoots with those laser tag guns. I don't think either of have any illusions about the result of that test.
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Im white and I'll be honest, I dont much care for inner city police either. Somehow I dont have trouble with cops outside the city either.
Could it maybe be that turning everything into a race issue is dumb?
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Im white and I'll be honest, I dont much care for inner city police either. Somehow I dont have trouble with cops outside the city either.
Could it maybe be that turning everything into a race issue is dumb?
"Everything" isn't a race issue. You're correct. The problem in inner city Chicago however is without a doubt a race issue. If I follow the path I think you're reasoning is taking me, it leads me to it being a poverty issue. But if you look up poverty numbers by race in Chicago, it immediately becomes an race issue again. And if you rich and black in Chicago, and get pulled over by police, it's not like they're going to ask you for your check stub before they unload their sidearm into you.
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Maybe, but your kid couldn't even play minecraft at age 7, so maybe there is a bigger issue with your child. Like, oh say, You.
All the actual data shows you are wrong, so maybe think?
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hmm... not sure what you're saying but I think you're making an improper assumption about the number of children I have. But hey, don't let me stop you from your going on with your typical personal attacks rather than discussing the actual issue.
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Adopt an African American Child.
...
You tell your kids not to go to Chicago because of the crime, I tell mine not to go because of the police.
Persecution by the police isn't exclusive to any one race. I'm about as white as white can get but yet I fear the police as well and despite my highest regard for the law I've had a couple run-ins with them because there are just some cops that love to strut that authority and tell people what to do regardless of the legality rather than protect people with the humility that they serve the public interests. In fact I've gotten to the point where I've learned resistance is futile and there is no sense in try
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I would genuinely appreciate any stories you have to share - not because I don't believe you, but because Slashdot has recently become so "angry white male" that it's depressing.
(I've been on Slashdot since 1998. I remember when article comments were a welcoming forum. Now it's yet another forum where "liberal" on its own is conisdered an insult and labeling someone as such immediately means they are no longer worthy of consideration.)
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Who do you think are the victims of crimes in Chicago [heyjackass.com]?
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Yes; even closer to home [notalwayslearning.com], apparently.
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If they drink tea (Score:2)
If they drink tea they are just British.
Dr. Suess (Score:4, Funny)
Why do I think "Star-bellied Sneetch"?
One question (Score:2)
Will I finally be able to dance?
OK, I lied; I do have another question. But I'm going to refrain...
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OK, I lied; I do have another question. But I'm going to refrain...
Is it about being able to sing?
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Maybe you should worry less about your dance skills and see if you can get some decent humor skills.
Racist experiment (Score:5, Interesting)
Why just black. Why not brown, red, or yellow.
I lived in India for several months, I know what it's like to walk into a restaurant and have 20 pairs of eyes watch every move I make. I'm sure someone from Mexico or Senegal would experience the same thing.
I know people of all skin colors that have lived among other people of different skin colors and I've heard plenty of stories to tell of ignorant people making rash judgements. I've heard people from India say racist things about people with dark skin, and I've heard people with dark skin say racist things about people with lighter skin. I know a white person that was stopped by a cop in a neighborhood where people with browner skin colors predominately live. He didn't complain about 'walking while white'.
I'm sure that no matter where someone goes in this world, people with a skin color or any other attribute that is in the minority are viewed differently from people in the majority. What makes some people think they are experiencing something no one else in the world experiences or can understand? Or that only white people don't get it? Why was it in college that groups of people with similar attributes (i.e. ethnic background, religion, political leanings) all tended to group together and often made fun of everyone not like them.
A good step in getting rid of racists attitudes is to ignore the morons who are racist and stop letting them interfere with our lives. Generalizing the attitudes and behaviors of an entire group of people just because of the traits of a small minority is prejudice.
No matter what your skin color is.
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Black because that is the current big issue in America. OBVIOUSLY other races as well.
A good step is getting people like you to stop injecting there knee jerk nonsense into the discussion..we ANY discussion, really.
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Black because that is the current big issue in America.
Aggregate damage to society caused by media professionally trolling for ratings and attention is grossly underestimated.
Couldn't begin to count masses of terrified old ladies who think the world is full of pedophiles and murders because that's all the glowing box ever tells them. Ditto on number of tools who think there is a terrorist waiting to behead them under every staircase.
Schools have turned into fortresses with armed guards and draconian "zero tolerance" policies with scary lockdown drills because
So... (Score:2)
Impossible to do without VR? (Score:2)
There is no physical discomfort for the user; they can wear the same clothing, perform their usual activities in real-world scenarios, and their sensations are not altered. The same cannot be said with VR gear.
The effect would be immediate, and while not permanent, the user cannot stop participation because of some slight discomfort: they'd have to live the life of a non-white person for several weeks. You're not going to
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heh like Skyrim? (Score:3)
In my skyrim playthrough I chose "Dark Elf" because it sounded cool. Only problem is, the dark elves have little representation throughout Skyrim and most groups are prejudiced against them. Everywhere I went was a bunch of racist Nords and asshole Thalmor
Pretty quickly I came to the opinion that the main factions were a bunch of racist assholes and I had no horse in their race (a metaphor for real elections), and really just hoped for as bloody a battle as possible between them both.
After a while I started to identify with that part of the character, to the point that it did effect the choices I made in the game. It really is a powerful disincentive to know you are dealing with someone who sees you right off the bad as not their equal.
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Or did you think Drizzt was the origin of the Dark Elf in modern fantasy?
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Oh was that one of the races in morrowind? I never played that one; Gygax was their leader?
Will it really help? (Score:3)
1960 "Black Like Me" experiment (Score:5, Informative)
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Imaginary reality to "prove" imaginary racism (Score:5, Insightful)
Imaginary reality to "prove" imaginary racism. How fitting...
Hint: it ain't the skin-color. If "whitey" really were racist, Asians would've suffered from it too. But they are doing rather well. So well, in fact, that schools [nypost.com] and colleges [mindingthecampus.com] alike deduct points from applicants, who identify themselves as "Asians" [usatoday.com].
The most likely explanation is single-parenthood rate: children growing up with only a mother (which is still the overwhelming majority of single-"parent" households [clutchmagonline.com]) are much likelier to grow up with problems live sucky lives — all human civilizations knew this and frowned upon unwed mothers. Not because "sex is a sin", as is the common Illiberal's strawman, but because bringing a child into this world without a loving father is a sin... Heck, we know it too [photius.com]!
For some reason, currently 67% of Black kids [kidscount.org] grow up in such families — compared with merely 17% of Asians and 25% of Whites... But only the KKKonservative Libertarians connect the dots [heritage.org].
This is why so many people are frightened (Score:2)
See, this is exactly the sort of thing that Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking have been warning us all about. First of all you try and simulate reality. Then your program gets smart enough that it starts to formulate desires. Next thing you know it wants to experiment with brain transplants and bioengineering techniques. Before you know it...
Wait ... what's that, you say? The headline should read "Virtual Reality experimenters want to gi
Why not talk to black people??!! (Score:2)
Really? Really?! We need a VR SIMULATOR to understand what it's like to be black in America??!
How about you TALK to your black neighbors? Is making a computer simulation somehow easier than listening to another person explain how life is like for them? NO WONDER things are the way they are.
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I'd like to say something thoughtful about this... (Score:2)
Impossible without VR? (Score:2)
Bullshit. These guys need to read Black Like Me [wikipedia.org]. And then try it out for themselves.
CNN breaking news (Score:2)
Body paint is cheaper and works better.
I played GTA: San Andreas years ago (Score:2)
That's racist (Score:2)
Literally.
Superman already invented this (Score:2)
http://www.comics.org/issue/23... [comics.org]
Ahem. (Score:4, Funny)
Do you think they'll be able to give us just certain parts of black bodies?
Asking for a friend.
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Just travel (Score:3)
People who are different attract attention. It's a natural human reaction. I've never been insulted (to my face) and I take as many precautions as I can to do what is socially acceptable.
P.S. - If you want a unique experience, be the only white guy at a Japanese onsen.
Black Bodies? (Score:3)
Won't that cause lots of radiation?
The Bright Side (Score:3)
Maybe we could all pause for a moment, take a deep breath, and:
Acknowledge that while racism does still exist, society is doing pretty good when you need clever experiments and (in this case) advanced technology to be able to measure it objectively.
The glass is half full.
Reminds me of this TV program: (Score:3)
French television made a more thorough experiment that can be watched as a 3-hour documentary on Youtube. They used all the tricks available to film to turn a black family living in Paris into a convincing white one and vice versa. This is worth watching even if you don't understand French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com] ("Dans la peau d'un noir").
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Yeah, it would be interesting to see what happens if the residents of Gaza were turned into civilized people who were industrious and turned Gaza into an economically prosperous beachfront resort and started winning Nobel Prizes, just like regular Israel.
It would be a bit of a change from murdering their own children to dig tunnels underneath their neighbors for the sole purposes of indiscriminately murdering people they've never met.
Re:Let's put Jews in virtual Palestinians in Gaza (Score:4, Insightful)
Yeah, it would be interesting to see what happens if the residents of Gaza were turned into civilized people who were industrious and turned Gaza into an economically prosperous beachfront resort and started winning Nobel Prizes, just like regular Israel.
It would be a bit of a change from murdering their own children to dig tunnels underneath their neighbors for the sole purposes of indiscriminately murdering people they've never met.
The Israelites don't have to do that because they have an American backed and supplied military to do that for them.
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I know millennials think they are the first generation that is morally superior and have the answers to everything. But I was playing Mike Tyson's Punch out when your parents were still wearing Zooba's. Not everyone is the racist.
Punch out was a hoot. Only game that was ever fun to play with the power glove.
Re:Stop it with this crap. (Score:5, Insightful)
I know millennials think they are the first generation that is morally superior and have the answers to everything."
Every generation thinks they're superior,
And the previous and next are inferior,
But no matter your exterior,
We have the same interior,
So the Kruger-Dunning Effect bites your posterior.
Burma Shave
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As far as the morally superiority that would be the Baby Boomers in the 60's. Considerably earlier than even Space Invaders. Of course the Boomer's moral superiority has done nothing but cause problems. Cant' wait to see what damage the Millennials does in another 10-20 years.
We used to think only White people are racist, but now we know better.
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Are you putting this forth as evidence you're an expert on racism? Really?
Reading is hard. You couldn't even finish the sentence and address the POINT of the sentence.
But you do OUTRAGE really well, so maybe you're a racism expert.
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"Virtual Reality Experiment Wants To Put White People In Black Bodies"
You play as Little Mac, a white dude. You fight Tyson at the end.