It will be Feb. 22 at noon in the Memorial Union, Room 105. The talk is free and open to the public. Such systems, Bella said, can become a powerful force in human affairs, draw vast numbers of people into their grip, and shape behaviors, beliefs and values. Yet they are not intentionally designed or easy to control. Examples of their modern destructive power include the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, which was caused by a systematic but unintentional distortion of information.
Modern examples abound.
But one of the best, ever, was American slavery. In one simplified part of that system, slaves were seen as inferior. Because of that assumption, scientists of the era tried to develop data that would explain why they were inferior. Further, since slaves were believed to be inferior, they were seen as only fit for slavery. Therefore it was forbidden to educate a slave - and their resulting lack of knowledge was taken as evidence of inferiority.