I agree with Quik's "Middle Ground" approach.
*Breath's in*
I think the old jest about us being
as unique as snowflakes holds a lot of wisdom to it. If you look down on [xyz] City's CBD you'll see the hordes making their comings and goings. It's a rough sea of people coming in waves in all directions. While the majority of them (sorry to say this) are mindless puppets of a system that created their very personas(?pluralisation?), they do have some minor differences that one could say make them unique if one looks close enough. The level of uniqueness will vary from individual to individual (with those who are too unique being ostricised). So in essence, I think the logical mind observes a set of "parts" with one major thing in common as a singular entity or "Group" - DIM people(
n). We would not say "a bucket of many water molecules, some bacteria and a few pieces of micro-debris", we simply say "a bucket of water". In essence -
generalisation
However, when talking to a single person - a singular component of that amorphous mass of people - we have to shed that view of a person being a part of anything and observe them as an individual (albeit temporarily, lol). We now look at a single bacterium in the bucket (yes, innuendo intended). This is probably the first phase of
discrimination (not a bad word in its original context). The second phase of discrimination happens when we group that person into a group... Oh wait, we just generalised
Hahaha, we all do it to some degree or another. We catagorise people. For example, who here can honestly say they've never typed the word "sheeple" in a forum on on a social-networking site or even a text message? That is because we consider those unable to question life/ponder existence to be nothing more than drones (which they are
). But "[...remember the dull and the ignorant for they too have story]" - I'm paraphrasing because I can't recall the text or who wrote it.
I think, as a pragmatist and a realist (
or one striving to be one - yes, there are many jokes in that), the best path to take is the middle one. Accept that we do generalise and be aware of this. Allow ourselves our preconceptions but be open to being proven wrong and pleasantly surprised when we meet someone who's not just another cardboard cut out.
Generalise ---> Discriminate ---> Catagorise.
Because we are all part of a group. The mere fact that we are
not members of the majority group actually
groups us as members of the group called "Not members of traditional society". The fact that I am an individual groups me with the group called "individuals". The fact that you stereotype woman, makes you, fallen one, a stereotypical member of the group "people who stereotype".
For those who've seen Monty Python's Life of Brian:
There's a brilliant scene where Brian yells at all his followers:
Brian: "You don't need a messiah, you are all individuals!"
Masses: "We are all individuals!"
Random Voice: "I'm not!"
And this little piece of comedy is probably the most profound thing that has ever come out of cinema.
*Breathes out*
