"Prejudice may seem inescapable, but scientists now report the first group of people who seem not to form racial stereotypes. Children with a neurodevelopmental disorder called Williams syndrome (WS) are overly friendly because they do not fear strangers. Now, a study shows that these children also do not develop negative attitudes about other ethnic groups, even though they show patterns of gender stereotyping found in other children. "This is the first evidence that different forms of stereotypes are biologically dissociable," says Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, director of the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim, Germany, who led the study published April 12 in Current Biology." - Shannon Jiménez

This corollary reminds me of another syndrome where there are children who are born with no ability to feel pain. Seemingly this would be desirable but it isn't: it's very dangerous. They can harm themselves seriously without knowing it. We have fail-safes in our lives - some provided, some learned, for a purpose: they protect us from harm if used appropriately. It is a fine thing to be outgoing and friendly when the situation seems all clear. But using caution, as when confronted with people and situations that are potentially dangerous, is using wisdom. If a group of people or an individual have/has lost a common rule of law openly or in their heart that respects the person that they are confronted with it is not wise to treat them as if they are safe to be around. And that goes for anyone. - Melanie Reed

I would also relate my experiences of those children with Down's Syndrome as evidence that this is not anything new. I used to work for a marketing agency in the mall and a large group of children with this syndrome would come weekly to the mall. They were without any prejudice and extremely outgoing and friendly in nature. They would walk up to anyone and start conversations. I remember their visits as being particularly joyful. But here again, they had to travel in groups with chaperones to make sure they were protected. - Melanie Reed

Yeah, it's sad to me to realize that fear of strangers is an important evolutionary safety mechanism. Despite this, I think that we can always work at minimizing our unconscious stereotypes, partly by simply recognizing that they exist. - Shannon Jiménez