prejudices

[imnothere]

is it possible to remove prejudices from humanity?

i've been thinking a lot lately about the things humanity allows itself to be be judged on these days. and mostly what it doesnt allow itself to be judged on.

appearance
back ground
sexual orientation

are all out. how far are we willing to go? how far do we want to go?

because it seems to me that the more we remove the ability to label each other over superficial things the only option left will be to label each other on the things that "matter" i put it in quotes because i dont know if the things that matter now will mater later, or if their relevance is now.
will there be an open cast system in the future where we judge each other on emotional, mental, and social maturity?
like is always drawn to like in the human realm as far as i am aware. will this always be so?

ok, i can accept that there will always be some. but it seems to me that there are less now then there were 50yr ago. and in amarica there are laws protecting people form acting out on them.
you cant employ someone based on old stereotypes.
you cant deny basic services based on old stereotypes.

now this means that if you want to practice your prejudices or act on stereotypes you have to come up with some other excuse for it. more often then not, that means actually looking at the person in front of you and knowing a little bit more about them. so that you can find some reason to act on your first impulse.
and here is why i think that this is a good thing. because sometimes you will see past the stereotype or prejudice to the person, and for good or bad, judge them for who they are.


so that was the gist of my OP, can you see a time when stereotypes actually lead people to look at one another and judge them for who they are?

[DoubleM]

is it possible to remove prejudices from humanity?

i've been thinking a lot lately about the things humanity allows itself to be be judged on these days. and mostly what it doesnt allow itself to be judged on.

appearance
back ground
sexual orientation

are all out. how far are we willing to go? how far do we want to go?

because it seems to me that the more we remove the ability to label each other over superficial things the only option left will be to label each other on the things that "matter" i put it in quotes because i dont know if the things that matter now will mater later, or if their relevance is now.
will there be an open cast system in the future where we judge each other on emotional, mental, and social maturity?
like is always drawn to like in the human realm as far as i am aware. will this always be so?

For that to happen we would have to kill all people and have only 2 people left, one boy one girl (so they can produce). But i still think that if that were to happen eventually people will start to get prejudice again.

[imnothere]

no what i'm saying is that i think people will always be prejudice, just about different things.
rather then judging each other on skin tone or something the person has little to no control over, we would judge on things the person does have control over.

[DoubleM]

That would makes sense.

[Fallbreeze]

I don't think we can, because no matter what we 'eliminate', people will still use it as an excuse to discriminate. People won't use things a person can control, because of that precise reason. Anything a person CAN control, isn't permanent enough for a person to want to use as 'discrimination'.

[Boleslav]

Is a prejudice always a negative thing?

[Fallbreeze]

Is a prejudice always a negative thing?

Depends on situations. I mean, if NASA decided to put a discrimination policy against anyone with an IQ under 60 from working on the space program, that makes some odd, but good sense. But, if someone refuses you medical aide because of your skin color, or your financial status, ect...well, somewhat self eplanatory.

[Boleslav]

I guess what I'm trying to think about is how prejudice relates to generalizing. The broader the generalization, the more unhelpful and incorrect the generalization becomes. Equally, the extent to which one can generalize depends on one's experience in related contexts. So perhaps what is viewed as a prejudice is a broad generalization made at a shallow level of interaction with the subject.

[Fallbreeze]

You're thinking of stereotyping, or the "One bad apple making the whole barrel bad' philosophy. I can see that being an apt thing to wonder about.

[Boleslav]

Hmm. I'd like to tease out the relationship between stereotype and prejudice more. Is a stereotype something one imagines before experiencing the other, and a prejudice is what is generalized after initial contact with the other?