The Illogic of Racial Profiling

From time to time, I like to talk about game theory. It is appealing because its logic is so crisp and clear. The logical path is a comforting way to live. It’s perhaps why so many people relate to Spock and hardly any relate to Bones.

I bring us back to diamond stealing. Say Man A is trying to steal a diamond from Man B. Man B has two safes. One safe is at work and Man A has a 90 percent chance of cracking it. The other safe is at home and Man A has a 50 percent chance of cracking it. Man A only has the time to pursue one safe. Which safe should Man B choose to hide his diamond and which safe should Man A choose to look for the diamond?

If Man B thought very little, he would put it at home. It’s the better safe. Man A is limited to a 50 percent chance of success. Of course, if he thought a little more, he might consider putting it at work. If he put it there and Man A chose the home safe, Man A would have a 0 percent chance of success. Of course, maybe Man A knows Man B is going to do this and goes to the work safe. His odds would jump to 90 percent. Ug, second-guessing!

The good thing for Man B to do is randomize. Say Man B flipped a coin (and let Man A know he was flipping a coin). The result would determine the diamond’s location. Now, the odds for Man A drop. He only has a 45 percent chance with work safe and a 25 percent chance with home safe. In this case, he would always choose work safe and achieve a 45 percent chance of success.

The best thing for Man B to do is weight the randomization. If the man places the diamond at home 64 percent of the time and at work 36 percent of the time, Man A always has a 32 percent chance of success. It’s in Man A’s best interest to treat both safes equally and get out of the game of second-guessing.

Now, replace the diamond with a weapon or bomb. Man A is TSA trying to find the weapon or bomb. Man B a terrorist group. The safe is a terrorist.

A terrorist group can choose to hide their weapon on an Arab-looking individual which has a certain percentage chance of success or they can hide their weapon on an Anglo-looking individual which has a better percentage chance of success. If they stick to one or the other, they limit their chances of success. They do best with weighted randomization. Now, knowing that the group will use weighted randomization to some extent, it is in TSA’s best interest to get out of second-guessing and to treat both groups equally.

Down with racial profiling, Q.E.D.

Insecurity

When a man buys a sports car or a Hummer, it is said he does it for ego. A man is insecure, thus he attempts to make himself feel secure through acquisition.

Emotional insecurity is an odd concept. With social security or physical security, there are clearly things at risk. A tragedy can occur taking away someone’s income or life. The acquisition of a system or objects can actually protect against this loss. The threat is real and the protection is real.

With emotional insecurity, the threat is bogus and the protection is bogus.

I remember an old episode of Seinfeld where a woman spitefully accuses Jerry of not being a man. “Well, then, what are all those ties and sport jackets doing in my closet?” he replied. The woman attempted to play on Jerry’s insecurity, but Jerry clearly had no insecurity. Ironically, his response is so logical that it is ridiculous.

Yet, few, if any, of us can achieve grasping something so logical. We all feel insecure about our social status, our masculinity and femininity, our attractiveness level and our intellect. Objectively, we are clearly loved, members of our gender, attractive and smart to someone (most of us that is), yet we feel we are not.

Even more illogical is our resolution. We acquire objects, take on lifestyles and change our behaviors in order to fool others and ourselves into thinking that we are what we probably already are. Does having Ulysses on the shelf or cooking Foie Gros make one intelligent? Does sleeping with women make one attractive? Does being a soldier make one a man? Clearly, the answer is no yet these objects and actions are used for faux confirmations.

But, this how we live. It may be that person with absolute confidence would have no ambition. Why prove what you already know? This response is so logical that it is ridiculous. Instead, we all strive every day because we fear we do not have the will to.

Obligation

Our lives are filled with obligations. They are part of both the informal and formal contracts that make up human relations. Some we choose, some we are born in to and some we slip into with even realizing it.

For the most part, obligations are kept in order to maintain relationships or to avoid negative repercussions. If you do not go into work, your relationship with your employer will break down and you will be fired. If you fail to fulfill your three obligations as a US citizen (pay taxes, serve jury duty and participate in the census), you can receive heavy fines. If you don’t get a gift for your significant other on their birthday, they will probably yell at you or not speak to you.

There are other obligations, though, that we do for other reasons.

Last week, I went to Holland for my grandmother’s memorial service. My grandfather was taken out of the old folks home so he could enjoy time with the family and attend this service. In his old age, he has stopped caring about how he acts and what he says. He also has stopped caring too much about bathing, washing his clothes or where he chooses to urinate and defecate. My mother, who is the in-law, took on the task of cleaning up after his mess in the bathroom. My father, who is disabled and can’t do too much cleaning, tried to get him to wear somewhat clean clothes. My task was to take him down to Lake Michigan every other day and give him a bath.

These tasks weren’t delegated and there were no personal consequences in not doing them. My aunts, uncles and cousins probably didn’t even notice them occurring and my grandfather, in his vertigo, almost certainly has no memory of them. Yet, the tasks got done.

Why? I asked my mother how she ended up cleaning up an old man’s shit. “Who else is going to do it?” she countered.

Perhaps the strongest obligations are the tasks that need a single person desperately. If someone else can pick up the slack, people feel little guilt about bailing. But, when there is no one else, a person is faced with the cold reality of something not getting done. Faced with that extreme, laziness and fear of being uncomfortable seem petty. Action prevails.

This makes other things clear. Why does Nicolas Kristoff keep writing about Darfur over and over? Why does the graduate student study and write on an obscure niche? Why does Shoffy hang out with weirdoes?

Who else is going to do it?