Oh brother. Some big brained “scientists” gave students a beta blocker. For heart disease? No, to measure whether the pill could reduce racist attitudes. From the Daily News story:
British researchers found that a common heart disease drug lowers more than blood pressure - it lowers racist attitudes as well. Researchers at Oxford University say that volunteers who took small doses of the beta blocker propranolol scored lower on tests used to detect “subconscious” racism than volunteers who took a dummy pill, London’s The Telegraph reported. Propranolol is used to reduce blood pressure, and can also manage panic and anxiety disorders.
In the study, a group of 18 white students were given 20 mg doses of the drug before taking a test to gauge prejudice attitudes, while another group was given a placebo. In one part of the test, volunteers were asked to sort pictures of black and white faces into categories along with positive and negative words, such as “happy” and “sad.” In another segment, the test-takers were asked to report how “warm” they felt toward certain groups, including black people and Muslims. Results showed the group that took propranolol showed lower “implicit” racist feelings, meaning they appeared less racist on a subconscious level.
Would the same
Oh, this explains everything: The utilitarian bioethicist Julian-We Need Morality Enhancements-Savulescu, a creater of the faux neuro ethics field, was involved.Scientists said they believed the drug lowered feelings of bias because it works on parts of the brain and nervous system that regulate fear and emotional responses, the Telegraph reported. “Such research raises the tantalizing possibility that our unconscious racial attitudes could be modulated using drugs, a possibility that requires careful ethical analysis,” the study’s co-author Professor Julian Savulescu said.
To steal from Mark Steyn, did you notice that the pills are white? I see subconscious racism. Savulescu, heal thyself!
