Sunday, December 6, 2020

The Science Behind ‘They All Look Alike to Me’

 When I was about 18 years old I read an article and it said that an ancient Chinese saying was that Europeans all have the same face. I was surprised as all Chinese people looked very similar to me. I realised that we much discern differences in our own ethic group more easily.


From an early age we begin to notice the subtle differences between skin tone, hair colour, and bone structure there is within our own ethic group. The same goes for Eastern people who may think all Europeans have the same nose. When we look at other ethic groups we are unable to discern the subtle differences of their features so well.


Scientists, pointing to decades of research, believe something else was at work. They call it the “other-race effect,” a cognitive phenomenon that makes it harder for people of one race to readily recognize or identify individuals of another.

The Science Behind ‘They All Look Alike to Me’


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