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Why do you believe people have racist and prejudicial tendencies?
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qwe
Bluelight Crew
projection, guilt, economics and greed, and social forces of authority and dominance? micro and macro.
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We have evolved to protect our own genes, which is why we tend to like people who look like us (as they probably share a lot of genes). The natural corollary of this is that we tend not to like people who do not share our genes as much. We have also evolved minds that construct useful predictive models from a poverty of data. One way of doing this is by making generalisations from scant experience- many people are scared of snakes or spiders. This is a prejudice, as many snakes and spiders are harmless, but it is a useful response that has been favoured over time. People also often learn their phobias from their parents, which is another way that our minds construct the model- incorporating that which is learned from others around us. This is a useful thing most of the time, but it leads to the perpetuation of fears that we, in modern society, consider to be irrational. Being scared of potentially poisonous spiders is useful if you live in the Amazon rainforest, but if you live in Birmingham it's maladaptive. The change that we have brought about in our environment has been so rapid that it has outpaced our capacity to learn, and left us with vestigial traits that we consider undesirable. In a tribal society, people who don't look like you are probably enemies, and are certainly not to be trusted, and so the trait of instinctively disliking other peoples (which, by modern standards, is racist) is favoured.
Then you have thousands of years of history, including war, slavery, colonialism and mass immigration, the subsequent culture clash of societies that have developed introspectively, and all that business, but we'll get to that I'm sure.
Then you have thousands of years of history, including war, slavery, colonialism and mass immigration, the subsequent culture clash of societies that have developed introspectively, and all that business, but we'll get to that I'm sure.
ninjadanslarbretabar
Bluelighter
^pretty much
i'll ad : the ability to see ourself in others
like how dolphins can recognize themself in the mirror
animals that are self aware can recognize themself in the mirror
its a sign of being evolve
when skin color, the way you dress, the culture you have, your sexual behavior, your belief system...when that stuff makes it impossible for someone else to see the familiar human behind that, then that person is not as evolve has the one who can still recognize his fellow human being
when you take it for its literal meaning humans arent racist, the human race has made friend with dogs, cats, horses....
its fine as long as we dont feel in competition or simply threatened by the other
and if you cant recognize yourself in the other you failed at having enough conscious capacity to evolve to where humanity has evolved towards
we now know that we all shared common ancestor, we know we all came from africa
but you dont even need to know that to recognize yourself in others, you just need to have evolve your consciousness to see behind the cover
like how you move left and right in front of a mirror and know that its you because you have the brain capacity to recognize that its you
yesterday i was thinking about love, and where evolution is going, it seems like the more complexe life on earth is becoming, the more there is a ability for love, the way plants are interacting compares to fish, fish to monkey, monkey to human, nature has evolve a higher form of connection between individuals
how will it be in a billions year, what if we keep on creating the internet, with quantum computing and nanotechnology..what if we are gonna end up with a omnipresent, omniscient and omnibenevolent entity at the end of time ?
..and then god created the universe...
why wouldnt that entity reproduce itself by having babies, creating baby universe, from the big bang to singularity, once a universe has completed its cycle, or once it reach adulthood it then reproduce itself by giving birth to a bunch of new baby universe that in their turn will do the same...
so my point of view is that like Vader has said racism was a desired trait in our evolution, or at least the basis behind it was good but people who still get caught up into it are simply unevolve, they lack the self awareness needed to reach understanding of where we are now
and it would help to know where we are going but we can only speculate when it comes to that
i'll ad : the ability to see ourself in others
like how dolphins can recognize themself in the mirror
animals that are self aware can recognize themself in the mirror
its a sign of being evolve
when skin color, the way you dress, the culture you have, your sexual behavior, your belief system...when that stuff makes it impossible for someone else to see the familiar human behind that, then that person is not as evolve has the one who can still recognize his fellow human being
when you take it for its literal meaning humans arent racist, the human race has made friend with dogs, cats, horses....
its fine as long as we dont feel in competition or simply threatened by the other
and if you cant recognize yourself in the other you failed at having enough conscious capacity to evolve to where humanity has evolved towards
we now know that we all shared common ancestor, we know we all came from africa
but you dont even need to know that to recognize yourself in others, you just need to have evolve your consciousness to see behind the cover
like how you move left and right in front of a mirror and know that its you because you have the brain capacity to recognize that its you
yesterday i was thinking about love, and where evolution is going, it seems like the more complexe life on earth is becoming, the more there is a ability for love, the way plants are interacting compares to fish, fish to monkey, monkey to human, nature has evolve a higher form of connection between individuals
how will it be in a billions year, what if we keep on creating the internet, with quantum computing and nanotechnology..what if we are gonna end up with a omnipresent, omniscient and omnibenevolent entity at the end of time ?
..and then god created the universe...
why wouldnt that entity reproduce itself by having babies, creating baby universe, from the big bang to singularity, once a universe has completed its cycle, or once it reach adulthood it then reproduce itself by giving birth to a bunch of new baby universe that in their turn will do the same...
so my point of view is that like Vader has said racism was a desired trait in our evolution, or at least the basis behind it was good but people who still get caught up into it are simply unevolve, they lack the self awareness needed to reach understanding of where we are now
and it would help to know where we are going but we can only speculate when it comes to that
DJ 303
Bluelighter
lack of education or misinformation.
fridgebuzz
Bluelighter
ethnocentrism, dude. the idea that all other cultures and practices are backwards compared to my own, when really we're all insane and just doing our best to get by.
MyDoorsAreOpen
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The root of in-group prejudice is the simple fact that it's easiest to feel comfortable around people who remind us of ourselves, in any way.
That said, there's an immense amount to be gained by challenging ourselves to appreciate the company of those who differ from us in important ways.
But not everyone, sadly, was raised to believe that taking this risk and pushing comfort zones was worthwhile.
That said, there's an immense amount to be gained by challenging ourselves to appreciate the company of those who differ from us in important ways.
But not everyone, sadly, was raised to believe that taking this risk and pushing comfort zones was worthwhile.
:DThere's all of this racism out there, it's everywhere and I know the invalid reasons as to why it occurs. There's so much racism in the world, but I'm not racist, because I know why it exists and I assimilate with other people that just bob their heads in agreement whenever I impart my wisdom on why, where and how many racists there are in my community and with our wisdom we can easily identify them and one day we will have implemented enough far reaching social policies that it will be impossible for racism to exist in our society.
So all of you people have worked out why there is racism (a few had honest answers that address evolutionary psychology) and that you are all non-racist (that's the implication in the tone of the posts, no one has been explicit though, granted). Then please click the link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27067-2005Jan21.html Implicit association test.
I saw other researchers that designed an implicit association test and they had, self-admittedly, taken the test hundreds of times and still couldn't do well on the test. These were professors in the marxist blah blah studies departments, you know the type, complete rejection of the biology department, everything is a "social construct, they make all sorts of ludicrous statements regarding race, racism, sexual dimorphism and history. The blacks in the video (activists) that took the test scored worse than the whites, despite being adamant that they were the most egalitarian, colour-blind persons on the planet (I knew that they were going to score badly when I heard them speak before taking the test, overstating your case just screams projection). The justifications and excuses that they reached for after facing the reality of their results were simply logic defying.
Who here is racially and or culturally a majority in the country that they are currently living in and yet choose to live in a neighbourhood where they are a minority? and be honest. The people that dogmatically pay lip service to multiculturalism are not the ones that pay the consequences for it. Much like Howard Dean proclaiming that "some people have a problem with diversity", now I don't know where he lives, but I bet it is both gated and racially homogeneous.
It's a survival mechanism, always has been and always will be. If a significant percentage of individuals within any ethnicity or culture can convince themselves that suppressing this instinct is the only way that a person can be pious or worthy of an opinion, to atone for some misplaced guilt, then this ethnicity will disappear in short time. You know why? Because all of the other groups have the same biases and are playing the same game. Unilateral suppression of prudent in-group association leads to cultural and ethnic suicide (this doesn't necessarily even need to be with bloodshed - don't think only literally, the gradual subversion of a culture and an ethnicity's society does the job also).
Also, please don't think that "survival" in the context of evolution refers to the individual, it functions on a genetic level. Bodies are just the machines with which genes compete (or fight) with each other.
So all of you people have worked out why there is racism (a few had honest answers that address evolutionary psychology) and that you are all non-racist (that's the implication in the tone of the posts, no one has been explicit though, granted). Then please click the link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27067-2005Jan21.html Implicit association test.
I saw other researchers that designed an implicit association test and they had, self-admittedly, taken the test hundreds of times and still couldn't do well on the test. These were professors in the marxist blah blah studies departments, you know the type, complete rejection of the biology department, everything is a "social construct, they make all sorts of ludicrous statements regarding race, racism, sexual dimorphism and history. The blacks in the video (activists) that took the test scored worse than the whites, despite being adamant that they were the most egalitarian, colour-blind persons on the planet (I knew that they were going to score badly when I heard them speak before taking the test, overstating your case just screams projection). The justifications and excuses that they reached for after facing the reality of their results were simply logic defying.
Who here is racially and or culturally a majority in the country that they are currently living in and yet choose to live in a neighbourhood where they are a minority? and be honest. The people that dogmatically pay lip service to multiculturalism are not the ones that pay the consequences for it. Much like Howard Dean proclaiming that "some people have a problem with diversity", now I don't know where he lives, but I bet it is both gated and racially homogeneous.
It's a survival mechanism, always has been and always will be. If a significant percentage of individuals within any ethnicity or culture can convince themselves that suppressing this instinct is the only way that a person can be pious or worthy of an opinion, to atone for some misplaced guilt, then this ethnicity will disappear in short time. You know why? Because all of the other groups have the same biases and are playing the same game. Unilateral suppression of prudent in-group association leads to cultural and ethnic suicide (this doesn't necessarily even need to be with bloodshed - don't think only literally, the gradual subversion of a culture and an ethnicity's society does the job also).
Also, please don't think that "survival" in the context of evolution refers to the individual, it functions on a genetic level. Bodies are just the machines with which genes compete (or fight) with each other.
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hiphophippy
Bluelighter
ethnocentrism
MyDoorsAreOpen
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beamers said:
I am. My current town is over half Latino (including my landlord). I'm Anglo-American. My wife and I chose to live here, and don't regret our decision.
Legerity
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I'm Anglophone/Canadian and live in an area that is pretty mixed; lots of Asian people and language is pretty divided English/French. I guess I like the mix and I really love this area; it's not necessarily the prettiest but it's right downtown in the middle of everything I just have to walk around the for corner and I'm on the main street for stores/restaurants.
It seems like there there are some common differences among various cultures overall, not each person, so some stereotypes do seem to have some truth in them. And to be honest I don't really have much respect for culture in general I think it's taken too seriously. We're born into a particular culture and that's it. I don't see any reason to be proud about it; it was just pre-programmed into me based on the location I was born. So I love humor that pokes at that because I don't see any point in identifying with it. I don't think culture is good or bad it's just neutral and if we decide for ourselves what aspects of it we want to integrate then we're not bound by whatever kind of lifestyle we are told we're supposed to live.
So if somebody fills a cultural stereotype that I find obnoxious, then I'll find them obnoxious. Not because they are part of that culture, but because of the behavior. If a white guy fills some sort of typical stereotype of another culture, I'll find him/her just as obnoxious and nothing to do with how they look or where they're from.
That said, I don't think think it's necessarily fair to judge others on preconceived ideas that don't actually match up. It seems like we do this with just about experience we have rather than just other people.
It seems like there there are some common differences among various cultures overall, not each person, so some stereotypes do seem to have some truth in them. And to be honest I don't really have much respect for culture in general I think it's taken too seriously. We're born into a particular culture and that's it. I don't see any reason to be proud about it; it was just pre-programmed into me based on the location I was born. So I love humor that pokes at that because I don't see any point in identifying with it. I don't think culture is good or bad it's just neutral and if we decide for ourselves what aspects of it we want to integrate then we're not bound by whatever kind of lifestyle we are told we're supposed to live.
So if somebody fills a cultural stereotype that I find obnoxious, then I'll find them obnoxious. Not because they are part of that culture, but because of the behavior. If a white guy fills some sort of typical stereotype of another culture, I'll find him/her just as obnoxious and nothing to do with how they look or where they're from.
That said, I don't think think it's necessarily fair to judge others on preconceived ideas that don't actually match up. It seems like we do this with just about experience we have rather than just other people.
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Ultimately tribalism. In fact every "in-group/out-group" mentality that psychology describes is a manifestation of tribal culture.
Evolution has given us good reason to protect our own and fear outsiders, and although our societies have changed, our inbuilt natures have not had time to catch up yet. Although the way that humans are capable of living in relative harmony in massive cities is very, very impressive when you consider that tribal societies tend to number in the low hundreds of individuals.
Evolution has given us good reason to protect our own and fear outsiders, and although our societies have changed, our inbuilt natures have not had time to catch up yet. Although the way that humans are capable of living in relative harmony in massive cities is very, very impressive when you consider that tribal societies tend to number in the low hundreds of individuals.