>He says some people misunderstand the aim of his research; he doesn’t suggest that African Americans undergo plastic surgery to look more baby-faced, or wear glasses if they have 20/20 vision, or make an effort to speak softly. He’s not warning mature-looking black men away from C-suite roles. “I think we should focus on dismantling the hierarchical structures and systems that keep people out and produce phenomena like the Teddy Bear Effect,” he explains. “I want people to realize that we don’t live in a meritocracy, that we are judged by different standards. A quality that could be an asset in one group could be a liability in another.” And because people make many choices and decisions “outside of awareness, intent, or control,” prompted by cues they often don’t notice consciously, Livingston says it might be helpful to change hiring and promotion practices to avoid such blind spots involving physical appearance.<p>And how did he come to the conclusion that these effects and psychological biases are undesirable and we should find mechanisms to avoid them? The journalist either skipped it, or Livingston jumped to state his opinion without explaining himself.<p>I could also interpret the data presented in the completely opposite way: these psychological biases have helped us choose people more apt for these positions and we should create an AI that chooses people based on these facial characteristics, but well, as long as I don't provide a rationale, I'm just spewing bullshit, as the second part of this article does.<p>I'm sorry for the diatribe, but I'm a little tired of these articles trying to push their political agenda.