Postmodernism

I would agree somewhat that race is not genetic but social, but only partially. The genetics passed down from a person's ancestry does effect their predispositions. Some groups of people are more analytical and some are more emotional. I do agree however, that the cultural and social environment of a person will influence them. Many times people will accept certain stereotypes upon themselves, because that is what is expected of them. For example, I don't know one black person who does not love chicken. Maybe that is because genetically all black people are predisposed to loving chicken, or maybe it is because society says "you're not really black unless you love chicken." I happen to think it is probably a little bit of both ideas.

I think that the "Human Race Machine" is an awesome idea. I know a lot of self absorbed people who can't see any other viewpoint than that of their own. I think that someone being able to see them self as a person of another race would allow them to see things from the viewpoint of that race. If everyone were able to look at things from other people's point of view, then we would have a better understanding of each other. If we could understand each other better then we could communicate better with each other. Then we would be better able to work through all of the problems we face as a society.

I think that the "Human Race Machine" is using the simulation that we find in our postmodern society as a way to better the real world. With simulation sometimes the can "become more real than the real," and "there is a collapse between counterfeit and real, and the original and the copy." If people could look at this simulation of them self as a person of another race, then they would be able to understand that that could have actually been them if they would have had different parents. This would help to break down a lot of the racial barriers that exist between people. Then a lot of the superficial tactics that some people use to divide and conquer us as a society would no longer work. I think that this is the point of people being able to arrive at this sameness which Nancy Burson is trying to reach. If we don't see ourselves divided just because of the color of our skin, then we become a lot more the same. We won't disciminate based on superficial reasons because we will see that there is no reason for doing so. If we see people of other races as the same we won't discriminate, because we wouldn't discriminate against ourselves. We would be able to "love our neighbor as ourself" (Lev 19:18).