Why must so many people divide persons and things into categories (i.e. stereoyping). Is it the simplest way to view "the rest of the human race?" Does it arise from a psychologic need, or is it simply the easiest way to avoid mental exertion?
Liberals are ..., Conservatives are ...., Religious people...., Muslims are ..., Jewish people ...., College professors ..., The media ..., and ad infinitem. How about "He's a pretty nice guy, except he's a communist"; or "stay away from him, he's a born-again."
All stereotyping stems from prejudice, based on prior teaching(often mythology), formative environment, and maybe specific experiences. Most people, it seems to me, use personal anecdotes to reinforce previously held beliefs.
Wouldn't it be more respectful to give each human being the dignity of being an individual who can think and act for himself?
The thinking is similar when it it comes to situations or ideas in pertaining to life in general. Most people [it seems to me] initially see solutions in terms of polarized trains of thought: we must do this(extreme measure), or do that(other end of spectrum). Some follow this train to the bitter end, others proceed to find a solution somewhere between the poles.
One example is Darwinism vs. Creationism. In today's world, the two can coexist in harmony; with the understanding that neither the terms [Darwinism(evolution), or Creationism] represent a coherent or unified set of principles or beliefs. The more accepted theory of evolution today does not equate to Darwinism as postulated around 1850. Nor does Creationism necessarily equate to a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis (in the Christian Bible). Theories evolve over time, and an individual can develop his own theory which contains elements of different theories. Once again, the naming of a theory usually just serves to establish a broad category which may be convenient but also serves to polarize people's beliefs. After all, a theory is a unified set of principles that purports to describe some aspect of reality; thus by definition does not represent a set of proven facts.
These simple thoughts represent a plea to all to strive for a truly open(and active) mind. This entails the willingness to temporarily discard all predjudices and examine a subject objectively using something akin to "the scientific method."
End of Today's Lecture
