True. Being wary of strangers is normal and expected behavior. The problem comes when people make assumptions and rely on stereotypes despite evidence...

2025-05-01 11:46:28

scott@loves.tech

The paradox of human behavior:

1. People are all unique and have their own beliefs, values, and preferences that frequently differ from the group they belong to.

2. People disregard #1 and tend to treat other people based on stereotypes and assumptions related to the group they belong to.

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2025-05-06 09:28:46

Scott M. Stolz

scott@loves.tech

Stereotypes and assumptions: we actually know why this happens. It has to do with how we learn.

Our mind groups similar things together so that we don't have to relearn new things over and over. It is how we can recognize what an automobile is, despite the fact that they all look different. So we create a label for it, and, rightly or wrongly, assume that this new automobile will have similar features as an automobile we encountered in the past. If we did not have that ability, we would have to literally relearn what a automobile was every time we encountered one. Imagine if we had to do that with bears in the wild. By the time you relearned what a bear was the next time you saw one, you'd be eaten. (This is also why we are naturally wary of new things. If you never saw a bear before, it is not a good idea to run up to it and give it a hug.)

But when you apply this to human beings, who are each unique, this becomes an issue, because people assume things about others based on what group they are in, or what label was applied to them. Nobody likes to be mislabeled or misunderstood. And people are wary of outsiders (i.e. people they don't know yet). That itself is unfortunate, but it gets worse when people treat each other differently based on those inaccurate and unfair assumptions. Racial profiling and discrimination based on skin color would be an examples of this. And the worst is when someone won't look past their labels and assumptions, and refuses to see the unique individual in front of them. This is where racism, racialism, discrimination, bigotry, and injustice completely take over.

The only way to deal with this problem effectively is to consciously understand that people are unique, and to treat all people fairly, regardless of what your first assumptions might be. Get to know the human being in front of you. If they show you or tell you about their culture, principles, perspectives, and values, then accept that as part of who they are personally, not as a label applied to them externally by someone else.

Luckily our brains are smart enough to understand that even though things might fall under the same category, they may not all be the same. That means that people can taught not to think in a racist or bigoted way, despite our tendency to label and group similar things together.

2025-05-06 10:27:25

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

Immediately identifying friend vs foe is a survival skill in a few dangerous environments, but anti-social in most.

2025-05-06 13:30:42

Scott M. Stolz

scott@loves.tech

True. Being wary of strangers is normal and expected behavior. The problem comes when people make assumptions and rely on stereotypes despite evidence to the contrary. For example, the statement "all x are y" is patently false when applied to any significantly sized groupings of people.

Also, people often use inaccurate indicators, such as skin color. For example, there are rich, middle class, and poor black people, and each of those are different. And then you have UK blacks, southern blacks, urban blacks, Hispanic blacks, Jamaicans, Africans, West Indians, etc. They are not the same either. Change the skin color to white. Same thing. The color of a person's skin tells you very little about them. It is more accurate to look at things like culture, values, creed, upbringing, etc. to understand the person you are dealing with.

Replying on stereotypes is not only unfair, but it also gives people a warped and inaccurate view of the world. They will mistakenly think an enemy is a friend because they have the correct skin color, and mistakenly think a potential friend is a foe since they have the wrong skin color.

People should always be careful and protect themselves from unknown threats, regardless of who the new people are. But the ultimate protection is actually getting to know the people who are you dealing with, going beyond the stereotypes and assumptions.

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