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Profiling (EP.67)
Summary
Q 1. What’s wrong with profiling? A. Nothing; it is a vital tool, and useful in a variety of situations. Q 2. So, why are we talking about it? A. This word, along with so many other terms that are in common usage, has been co-opted by those among us who wish to rewrite key word definitions to suit their agendas. Kinda like re-writing history, but that is another podcast. People who do things like this are truth-twisters.
Links and References
Racial or Racist?
Offense is in the Eye of the Offended
Contact
Please do reach out with comments or questions. You can email me at [email protected], or connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
And you can subscribe to the podcast on your favorite device through Apple Podcasts, Google, or Stitcher.
Transcript
Q 1. What’s wrong with profiling? A. Nothing; it is a vital tool, and useful in a variety of situations. Q 2. So, why are we talking about it? A. This word, along with so many other terms that are in common usage, has been co-opted by those among us who wish to rewrite key word definitions to suit their agendas. Kinda like re-writing history, but that is another podcast. People who do things like this are truth-twisters.
The first thing we, you and I, need to do is to understand the true definition of a word. Then we need to understand what the altered definition is and the agenda behind the attempt to hijack the word. After that, we can use the word as originally intended--and be prepared for the 1984 word police--the truth-twisters--to come at us. But we will be ready.
We’ll deal with more than one word today; let’s start with profiling. Merriam-Webster, the dictionary people: “The act or process of extrapolating information about a person based on known traits or tendencies, e.g., consumer profiling: the act of suspecting or targeting a person on the basis of observed characteristics or behavior, e.g., racial profiling.”
“Ah-ha” I can hear you saying, “See? Racial profiling!” There is absolutely nothing inherently wrong--and many things right--with racial profiling, along with the other types of profiling. For example, if you are looking for a cure for sickle cell anemia, you would not start with Asian or white populations, you would start with blacks; that population is the most susceptible. Among other things, different ethnicities overall have different preferences in personal care items. A careful marketer would ensure that certain products were optimized to give the greatest benefit to those ethnicities, then use always limited time and money to make sure the target market is aware of those beneficial products.
Kep point: In a world of unlimited needs and wants, and limited resources --the world we all live in--profiling, also known as focusing, is necessary. Profiling, like any tool, e.g., money, is inherently value-neutral, can be used for ill or for good. The last thing we should do is eliminate a valuable tool, e.g., profiling, by intentionally making the definition of profiling mean nothing but--or even mostly--illegal and racist actions by an alleged oppressor group against a presumed victim group.
Let’s take a look at a couple of other terms; discrimination and prejudice. We’ll start with discrimination. We’ll begin with Merriam-Webster again: “1a. prejudiced or prejudicial outlook, action, or treatment, e.g., racial discrimination. 1b. the act, practice, or an instance of discriminating categorically rather than individually. 2. the quality or power of finely distinguishing, e.g., the film was viewed by the audience with discrimination. 3a. the act of making or perceiving a difference, the act of discriminating, e.g., a bloodhound's scent discrimination. 3b. psychology, the process by which two stimuli differing in some aspect are responded to diff...
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By Will LudenSummary
Q 1. What’s wrong with profiling? A. Nothing; it is a vital tool, and useful in a variety of situations. Q 2. So, why are we talking about it? A. This word, along with so many other terms that are in common usage, has been co-opted by those among us who wish to rewrite key word definitions to suit their agendas. Kinda like re-writing history, but that is another podcast. People who do things like this are truth-twisters.
Links and References
Racial or Racist?
Offense is in the Eye of the Offended
Contact
Please do reach out with comments or questions. You can email me at [email protected], or connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
And you can subscribe to the podcast on your favorite device through Apple Podcasts, Google, or Stitcher.
Transcript
Q 1. What’s wrong with profiling? A. Nothing; it is a vital tool, and useful in a variety of situations. Q 2. So, why are we talking about it? A. This word, along with so many other terms that are in common usage, has been co-opted by those among us who wish to rewrite key word definitions to suit their agendas. Kinda like re-writing history, but that is another podcast. People who do things like this are truth-twisters.
The first thing we, you and I, need to do is to understand the true definition of a word. Then we need to understand what the altered definition is and the agenda behind the attempt to hijack the word. After that, we can use the word as originally intended--and be prepared for the 1984 word police--the truth-twisters--to come at us. But we will be ready.
We’ll deal with more than one word today; let’s start with profiling. Merriam-Webster, the dictionary people: “The act or process of extrapolating information about a person based on known traits or tendencies, e.g., consumer profiling: the act of suspecting or targeting a person on the basis of observed characteristics or behavior, e.g., racial profiling.”
“Ah-ha” I can hear you saying, “See? Racial profiling!” There is absolutely nothing inherently wrong--and many things right--with racial profiling, along with the other types of profiling. For example, if you are looking for a cure for sickle cell anemia, you would not start with Asian or white populations, you would start with blacks; that population is the most susceptible. Among other things, different ethnicities overall have different preferences in personal care items. A careful marketer would ensure that certain products were optimized to give the greatest benefit to those ethnicities, then use always limited time and money to make sure the target market is aware of those beneficial products.
Kep point: In a world of unlimited needs and wants, and limited resources --the world we all live in--profiling, also known as focusing, is necessary. Profiling, like any tool, e.g., money, is inherently value-neutral, can be used for ill or for good. The last thing we should do is eliminate a valuable tool, e.g., profiling, by intentionally making the definition of profiling mean nothing but--or even mostly--illegal and racist actions by an alleged oppressor group against a presumed victim group.
Let’s take a look at a couple of other terms; discrimination and prejudice. We’ll start with discrimination. We’ll begin with Merriam-Webster again: “1a. prejudiced or prejudicial outlook, action, or treatment, e.g., racial discrimination. 1b. the act, practice, or an instance of discriminating categorically rather than individually. 2. the quality or power of finely distinguishing, e.g., the film was viewed by the audience with discrimination. 3a. the act of making or perceiving a difference, the act of discriminating, e.g., a bloodhound's scent discrimination. 3b. psychology, the process by which two stimuli differing in some aspect are responded to diff...