Confession of prejudice.

[GirlyMan]

(01-11-2012 08:33 PM)amyb Wrote:  Humans. I hate them all. Unless they're drag queens.

Drag queen ... drag queen ... did someone say drag queen.

[Logica Humano]

(01-11-2012 02:44 PM)nach_in Wrote:  

(01-11-2012 02:34 PM)Logica Humano Wrote:  Ann Coulter. Aaaaaaannnnd the average just went down. Anyway, the above statement bothers me.

why does it bother you?

Because it was the same bias that men had that created a patriarchal society, effectively abusing women hundreds of years. I am neither biased in favor of men, nor biased in favor of women. Anyone who is, in fact, biased in favor of either is a fool. Using gender as a means of defining a person's character is as accurate as using a person's skin color. I have yet to find any evidence that either gender is "better" than the other.

There are few things that I am biased, or am okay with being biased towards. I am actively opposed to religion, and am far more critical of a religion's statements or actions than many other institutions. I am definitely biased towards alternative medicine, only because its claims are rarely correct and are often disproven. I am biased towards any woo, essentially, but only with sufficient reasons. They have not supplied any evidence for their claims but continue to persist.

[nach_in]

(02-11-2012 03:20 AM)Logica Humano Wrote:  

(01-11-2012 02:44 PM)nach_in Wrote:  why does it bother you?

Because it was the same bias that men had that created a patriarchal society, effectively abusing women hundreds of years. I am neither biased in favor of men, nor biased in favor of women. Anyone who is, in fact, biased in favor of either is a fool. Using gender as a means of defining a person's character is as accurate as using a person's skin color. I have yet to find any evidence that either gender is "better" than the other.

There are few things that I am biased, or am okay with being biased towards. I am actively opposed to religion, and am far more critical of a religion's statements or actions than many other institutions. I am definitely biased towards alternative medicine, only because its claims are rarely correct and are often disproven. I am biased towards any woo, essentially, but only with sufficient reasons. They have not supplied any evidence for their claims but continue to persist.

You're absolutely right, but don't mix bias with belief, I don't think that women are better than men, I know they're the same, and only differenciable on a individual basis

[Vera]

(02-11-2012 03:20 AM)Logica Humano Wrote:  I am definitely biased towards alternative medicine, only because its claims are rarely correct and are often disproven.

I am so with you there. Some of those people should go to jail, in some cases what they do is short of murder. Some such creep tried to cure a distant relative of mine's MS... Needless to say, the woman ended up being almost paralysed... I'm not just biased, I have zero tolerance for such people.

[Atothetheist]

(31-10-2012 02:23 AM)Dark Light Wrote:  

(31-10-2012 01:55 AM)LadyJane Wrote:  Thanks for sharing this, I don't think I ever questioned honestly on what I may be prejiduce about. I am sooo focused on accepting and routing for the underdogs all the time that it doesnt occur to me often to think about how I feel. What my first gut reaction is.

Funny you say teen because I am the opposite, I'm a huge youth advocate and worked for 8 years as a child and youth councillor before having my own kids. I worked with really rough kids in a half way house where they were locked in either waiting for trial on things like murder or getting out of jail and being integrated back into society. I also worked with a well off community's youth centre that had a huge budget and most of the kids came from well off families. Both experiences were unique in many different ways, presenting their own problems but I found a few things about youth that always inspired and blew me away. Youth have this amazing vital energy they tap into, this hope for the future, a drive, amazing resilience and intense feeling. They go 100 percent. I've often wondered if I learned more from them than they did me.


Good for you for realizing this. I love when people change to see youth in a more positive way, there are a lot of people who don't understand or remember what it's like to figure life out at that age. A youth once told me, "You may have experienced more than me but you haven't experienced the same as me. Right now, we are experiencing now, together." Amazing insight.


I thought about this question. I am jaded towards people who are snooty or bitchy and also 'white trash'. I have to think about the snooty one more but I can easily guess the WT one is associated with a town I lived in for a couple of years that was very rough and monoculture in the wrong kinds of hill billy and since then I've felt this way, probably because I don't like being associated with the place. I have to realize, though, that anyone of 'them' can leave that place and be their own person too- in fact, they already are even if they stay, and I shouldn't define in a lump sum like that- especially when a few people became my good friends.

Thank you for providing the platform for self awareness, DL.

Well, I guess you have just had more of an opportunity to be around great inspiring kids. I really did like the quote you provided from that youth, agree that is a very cool insight. I guess I just have been isolated from children and young adults for several years now, so I forgot how brilliant they can sometimes be. After all I have spent the last 5 years in the military. There are older teens on warships, and on battle fields, but it is not the same. Those teens are forced to take on a lot of responsibility and become "adults" really quickly. More often than not I was severely overworked, leaving little time for serious discussions about non-work related stuff, and even then you stay in your pay-grade on the most part. I had a duty to maintain a professional distance from them. Anyhow, I guess I did just forget. I am a full time college student now, Freshmen, and around them, but I am not very social. I often go entire classes without learning a single students name. Even with that the overwhelming majority here are unable or unwilling to be skeptical because of the religious indoctrination here in the bible-belt. It's been pleasant to realize how great some of these teens are, like A2, and Magoo.

With all of that out of the way I am a hillbilly. A lot of folks here are poor, and I was certainly poor growing up. I am probably grew up as what you might call 'white trash' though I wouldn't have ever considered myself that. When I left active duty I could've gone just about anywhere in the world (or stayed in and did that) but I came home. I love it here. There is more to being a hillbilly than what you see in the media.
Knowing that do you think less of me?

Nice to see my presence has influenced you to(try to)get over that prejudice.

I am a strong adovcate of fairness and justice, so I have no racial, sexual orientation,or status prejudice. I guess if I had to really think about it, it would be stupid people who think they know what they are talking about. Sometimes I include myself into that catagory. I can't stand it when a person starts talking about the Big Bang theory and I end up counting the mistakes the person made while explaining it in my head.

I am prejudice against woo and alternative medicine as well, and I would think lower of you if you didn't understand that autumn is NOT a month.

[Dark Light]

(02-11-2012 04:21 PM)Atothetheist Wrote:  Nice to see my presence has influenced you to(try to)get over that prejudice.

I am a strong adovcate of fairness and justice, so I have no racial, sexual orientation,or status prejudice. I guess if I had to really think about it, it would be stupid people who think they know what they are talking about. Sometimes I include myself into that catagory. I can't stand it when a person starts talking about the Big Bang theory and I end up counting the mistakes the person made while explaining it in my head.

I am prejudice against woo and alternative medicine as well, and I would think lower of you if you didn't understand that autumn is NOT a month.

Care to test your claims?

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/Study?tid=-1
Good luck!

[fstratzero]

I automatically think people with southern accents are inept. I have to remind my self its not true.

[amyb]

I'll also add people who believe in a lot of woo, and/or those who talk about it a lot. I do tend to think of such people as less intelligent and more gullible.

[Humakt]

(01-11-2012 04:45 AM)Vera Wrote:  

(01-11-2012 04:23 AM)Humakt Wrote:  No, I'm trying to say we've still got a long way to go, before anything like laurel resting is justified. And if your trying to suggest we've moved to age where death, rape and bigotry are things of the past, I'll beg to differ. I can think of at least half a dozen genocides in the last couple of decades alone, so there still plenty of that going on. Rape is used whole sale in many conflict not just as lack of discouraging the practice, but as a deliberate form subjugation.

And sure things "evolve" but that does not mean improve, it was'nt really so long ago that a first world power openly engaging in torture would have been unthinkable, where detention without trial would have been anathema, now they are the order of the day.

So in this day and age, I see an erosion of not an improvement on the moral standards.

Of course they are not a thing of the past; there's still a looooong way to go (if we ever get there). I see where you coming from, but really, when exactly was the period in time when a first world power engaging in torture would have been unthinkable? The 20th century? It was just better hidden then and the fact that things are finally starting to come out in the light, is a sign that there is change. And to me, that's a change for the better.

What I meant by evolution was on a much grander scheme, you can't really see evolution over the course of decades. So I still maintain that while we are still plenty screwed up, violent and in many ways not much better than what we were like in tribal times, things have changed for the better, even if not nearly as much as they still have to change.

And my in this day and age comment actually went on to add "when it's voluntary", as opposed to the times of conscription. I realise you're a military man yourself and may have taken it personally, but I thought the thread was about prejudice and us trying to fight it.

" It was just better hidden then and the fact that things are finally
starting to come out in the light, is a sign that there is change. And
to me, that's a change for the better."

That is kinda my point, only I see it inn a different light to you, sure we aint never been clean, but we hide what we're ashamed of, the fact we dont hide it now isnt a sign we're on the road to the "light", its proof we're no longer ashamed its a sign that its now acceptable. To me thats a not a sign of change for the better.

I was a military man, but not for a long time. However, enough of the mindset remains that I dont take such things personally. Also, as you may be taking it personally, my post isnt really addressing you personally, your post is the second or third use of the phrase in the thread which I just happened to read on a day when I heard 5 or 6 other times. There is nothing personal about it, if only there was then it wouldnt be a big a deal, its the fact that this kinda thinking is endemic that rattles my cage, if it was a only a few people it wouldnt be a big deal.

[Humakt]

(01-11-2012 01:19 PM)nach_in Wrote:  In defence of the "this day and age" expression, we do now have better values in the mainstream morality and legality, human rights don't have a century yet and the international prohibition of war works a little bit, which is far more than the mechanisms before the WW2.
The phrase works for me, is like saying "this kind of bad things shouldn't happen any more, we should be better by now". In my opinion, it doesn't suggests we're more moral than before, it says we know better, and we should act on that knowledge.

I dont know that we do know better now, ask your grand or great grand parents what they think about state sponsored terrorism, torture, detention without trial of your own citizens. As for the international prohibition on war, Im not sure I even know what that means, theres still plenty war to go around. And as far as "this kind of bad things shouldn't happen any more, we should be better by now" goes, these things are blatantly happening now in plain sight so if we do now know better, then that makes it all the more contemptable that theyre allowed to continue. But, then I guess you acknowledge this when you should act on, not have acted on.

But, end of the day this thread is about prejudice - prejudice dont have to be rational and that phrase scratches the surface of mine, that indeed we should know better or rather that we do, but are in the main are not willing to rock the boat and say so. Its easy to point at what we've all agreed is wrong and decry it, but threaten the status quo or peoples comfortable assumptions that all is right with world and thats a different story.

Im startin to ramble its been a long depressin day for me, so I'll continue later if theres a response to it or let let slide.