Is prejudice a necessary evil?

[The Great Chandler]

While I personally don't prescribe to beliefs of racism or putting broad strokes on any group in general, it seems like a good number of farmers here seem to consciously believe that we should give into our biases. Just curious.

 

[Butterschmalz]

Its not a necessary evil its an important survival strategy! If you blindly trust strangers you will most likely not survive.

 

[Johan Schmidt]

Prejudice is an important tool, not 'evil'. The ability to make a collective judgement of a group is a good thing.

 

[G19]

Different groups of people, by whichever category you want to look at (religion, race, nation, geography, height), are more likely to act in X way or think Y way. People have learned and experienced how different groups are more likely to act like, and have passed on this information to their peers and their kids so they don't waste their time learning all that bullshit again. Just like every other form of knowledge. Everything is passed on. Prejudice and discrimination is social evolution.

 

[Pony! Hugger of People]

I think it depends how you employ it.

There's a difference between asserting that a group is X and refusing to even entertain any different and acknowledging a pattern based on group affiliation and acting based on that.

I think the big issue is one of culture, generally people who complain about this shit come from cultures that assume hegemony so the ability to engage with opposing or different views is almost non existent, and any disagreement therefore must be based on the other person being wrong or evil

 

[LolRaccoon]

Prejudice is something that is never going to truly go away, sadly. It's just a part of human nature.

 

[TerribleIdeas™]

You mean pattern recognition? It's not evil, if you notice patterns, and act on them to protect you and yours through passive means, like "crossing the street to avoid the gang of joggers congregating under a street light", although it's probably evil if it leads you to gun down the same group of joggers in broad daylight, without previous interactions.

 

[Chilson]

As mentioned numerous times before my own post, its a survival instinct that we evolved to quickly identify threats and its even more valid today than its ever been.

There is a larger percentile of threats in the nigger and most immigrant populations barring the Asians who are under threat from those same populations moreso than white people. Noticing this and avoiding them is something we evolved to do. I don't assume members of these groups are out to hurt me from the get go, but I sure as fuck am not entering their hoods without a hefty amount of protection.

 

[The Great Chandler]

I kind wonder though. Say you got a guy who's like "Yes, I am a (insert some -ist or -phobe) and I don't give a damn about the consequences as long as I don't have to see them around".

Sure, it's pretty based, but also pretty shitty. On the other hand, they're honest about that kind of position and have some rationale to back it up, even if anyone with some semblance of common sense would be quick to point out just how wrong it is. But again, some might be in the argument that the world has gone so decadent that this might as well be a "saner" line of thinking.

Maybe I'm just throwing assumptions in the dark. Just the idea of someone who is otherwise open-minded (not exactly ignorant), yet deliberately harbors these sentiments out of some cold pragmatism or honesty is interesting to me.

 

[YourFriendlyLurker]

It is a survival tool our brain uses when it doesn't have much time to make complicated conclsions. Like there is a prejustice about black people violating the law. Does it have any real grounds? Of course it does - look at Africa or crime stats in the US. Does it mean that the exact nigga you meet in your office is a thug who should be arrested? It doesn't, but your brain needs you to be prepared for the worst case . Later on you may know him better and make a detailed conclusion if that exact person person correlates with the stereoptype or not.

The bitter truth is that prejustice and stereotypes don't appear out of nowhere. They always has some basis and it takes much time to change them.

 

[Otterly]

Of course it is, it’s a survival instinct. We thin slice experience and make judgements instantaneously. Often those judgements are spot on. Twice it’s saved my life. We then have a slower more nuanced way of thinking that allows us to examine that reaction and see if it’s applicable
Whites are the only group told that this is bad. Every other group on the planet is firmly and happily of the belief that their lot is best and they act accordingly.
Never ignore your instincts in a snap judgement situation. Always consider your biases in a slower situation. Some dodgy looking bloke coming up to you in the street and you ducking inside a shop to get away is instinct.
Prejudice is part of pattern recognition. I’m prejudiced against people who desire and hold power - I don’t think anyone who actively wants power should be allowed anywhere near it. I’m prejudiced against the söy goblin look after years on KF - and funnily enough the last man I met who looked like that smirking goblin type I looked up becasue I said ‘fucking dodgy’ the woman I was with and she told me off for being bigoted and lo! I looked at his socials and he was a total deviant who works with kids.
We should also be aware enoigh to examine our prejudices - hating everyone who is short or black or male is too broad to be useful in general life. Being wary about a person who is ‘something you’ve encountered before that went badly’ is just you learning. Anyone who makes you feel guilty or bad for your instinct alone is a bad un. Examples: young girls being called bigots for not wanting males in their changing and showers.
Bigotry is now the absolute worst thing a westerner can be charged with. We go against our instincts and act like the stasi with each other and put our kids in danger because we can’t bear people thinking we’ve got an ‘ism.

 

[Valle]

I believe that the people who want to make a whole bunch of broad strokes themselves about racism and bigotry and how everything is about those is evil, are childish. They have not once been in a situation where you have this gut feeling about, oh shit I should run away now, I want nothing of this. People like such, want to take this deep feeling of wrongness of a situation and say it's just some intellectual conscious choice. It's a moral failure on your part that you do not feel the same as these children that live in their social media bubble.

I do agree with them though, racism isn't something you're born with. It comes with experience.

 

[Fomo Hoire]

There's a difference between asserting that a group is X and refusing to even entertain any different and acknowledging a pattern based on group affiliation and acting based on that.

Not sure I can give a concrete example without a PL, but I'd like to say that in some cases the pattern / "bigoted stereotype" is acknowledged by the group itself (definitely not a bigoted invention, more of a subculture clash issue). In those cases, this quote goes doubly much.

Yes, the pattern is so real that even the people you're bigoting against say to watch out for people doing the boogeyman action. It is based in reality, it was not invented by a bigot, the only thing the bigot did was over-generalize things.

But also the fact that they acknowledge it to warn eachother away from it indicates that it is not a universally supported behavior and that they don't want anything to do with it. They really shouldn't have the stereotype be held against them, even if especially because they acknowledge the stereotype has some truth to it.

 

[Kermit Jizz]

Maybe I'm just throwing assumptions in the dark. Just the idea of someone who is otherwise open-minded (not exactly ignorant), yet deliberately harbors these sentiments out of some cold pragmatism or honesty is interesting to me.

That's just it though, it is extremely pragmatic to hold prejudices. The only distinction is a matter of social acceptance, there are plenty which are considered ok. A women walking alone at night crosses the street to avoid a man, no one bats an eye. A white guy avoids a black guy and everyone loses their damn minds. Bottom text. Memes aside, those are the same thing in practice but only one is contentious for arbitrary social reasons. If you can understand the former you should be able to understand the later.

The issue begins when someone cannot disengage the prejudice, that's where I would say it goes from reasonable to actual bigotry. I can acknowledge that generally speaking black people are more dangerous and be on guard around random blacks. That doesn't mean once I get to know a black person I don't treat them like an individual. Prejudice is just a tool to make up for lack of information, and as long as it's used that way there's nothing wrong with it.

 

[Anti-Intellectual]

You can make judgement calls of entire ethnicities while understanding that particular individuals may be discrepancies or anomalous trends can result within that group from time to time. I don't like niggers but I know there are many black people who are absolutely not apart of that group from their behavior and displayed intellect.

 

[BeetleBug242]

How many times do I have to be almost hit by Indian men driving to finally decide that they are all horrible? How many times must I deal with rude, ugly, and loud-dyed hair people before that's what they all become?

Not a whole lot it seems.

I usually have three strikes and your group is out rule. From then on the individual must prove to me they aren't like the others. Simple as that.

 

[Montalbane]

Just ask all those nice couples that went cycling/bumming it up in the mideast and africa.

 

[Stan]

I disagree with racism, and I disagree with profiling and stereotyping. It’s a lazy way to avoid having to wrestle with new ideas, cultures, and people.

If you’re the sort of person who always has a ready reason to dismiss blacks, Jews, women, gays, Muslims etc. because they might disagree with you, then you probably have the intellectual appetite of a picky child who won’t try green foods because he’s afraid they might taste bad.

If you want to disagree what someone has to say, then you need to engage with their ideas, not just lazily says “kek Jew”.

 

[Kermit Jizz]

I disagree with racism, and I disagree with profiling and stereotyping. It’s a lazy way to avoid having to wrestle with new ideas, cultures, and people.

If you’re the sort of person who always has a ready reason to dismiss blacks, Jews, women, gays, Muslims etc. because they might disagree with you, then you probably have the intellectual appetite of a picky child who won’t try green foods because he’s afraid they might taste bad.

If you want to disagree what someone has to say, then you need to engage with their ideas, not just lazily says “kek Jew”.

>complains about intellectual laziness
>complains about dismissing people preemptively
>does exactly that
lmao

 

[St.Davis]

Maybe I'm just throwing assumptions in the dark. Just the idea of someone who is otherwise open-minded (not exactly ignorant), yet deliberately harbors these sentiments out of some cold pragmatism or honesty is interesting to me.

I'm perfectly polite and friendly to Niggers, Pakis, weird trannies, and other assorted undesirables (assuming they reciprocate) . I'm still prejudiced against them due to recognising patterns and being able to make logical decisions in the best interests of myself and people I care about. (manifesting most commonly in a desire not to interact with them.)

The ignorant (willfully or not) are those that do not harbour prejudices.