Project Implicit

Christine Connidis, a Jungian analyst and lawyer based in Toronto, presented a paper at the recent IAAP Congress on Project Implicit (http://implicit.harvard.edu,) a research study funded by Harvard and two other American universities. It has shown that most people have unconscious biases, even if they think they don't.

According to Connidis, the test is important because it has brought the idea of the unconscious into the mainstream. As a lawyer, she is interested in it because of its implications for the judicial system. Judges and jury members are supposed to be unbiased in their decisions (though in reality this is impossible for anyone, including journalists.)

The test, which has been taken by thousands of people around the world, has found large and pervasive biases against blacks and even stronger biases against old people. You can take the test online to see if you share them.

I'm aware of my many biases, so feel no need to take the test. I have a particular bias against judges who post nude photos of themselves on the Internet. (This is an inside Canadian joke about a judge in Manitoba who has been in the news recently for doing just this.)