Our affinity for simple models
Given all the trouble and errors simple models like stereotypes can cause, why then are we
so attracted to them?
In times past the world was a very dangerous place for people. Clear evidence of that is
the much shorter life expectancies. Disease, attacks by animals, accidents, and conflicts
between people all contributed to short lives and the need for people to pay attention to
their circumstances. Situations would commonly arise where a person's survival would depend
on their ability recognize the situation they are in quickly and react to it in a way that
will allow them to survive.
If we consider the total time people have been walking around on this planet and compare
it to the time when people have been living in a more civilized environment, the civilized
way of live is clearly a recent invention. Even though the world today doesn't seem to us
to be such a primitive place we must consider that the world is not uniform in that regard.
Even in civilizations today that consider themselves to be most advanced, there are many
dangers that can suddenly bring great harm to the unwary. The result is that our need to
recognize new situations and react accordingly continues to be reinforced. Life or death
does hang in the balance.
My thesis is that this basic survival need that continues today is the underlying force
that has led to the simple models we call stereotypes. The need being met is to evaluate
a very small number of parameters very quickly so an appropriate course of action can be
taken. In such cases, where survival is at steak, there is no time for deep thought. A
conclusion must be reached now! To meet this need we have developed mental methods for
identifying and categorizing situations quickly. One of the first criteria for identification
is: "Is this different than what I have encountered before". Anything that is different
must, for the sake of survival, be considered a threat. Even when that which is different
is, on closer examination, clearly not a threat, many people continue to feel uncomfortable
with anything that is unusual or different.
Because this capability was developed around the basic need to survive its effects are
ubiquitous in our lives. This identify, categorize, react process goes well beyond the
"jump out from in front of the car that's about to hit me" and is our first line of
cognitive defense for anything that comes our way. Virtually anything, people, places,
ideas, etc. that is unfamiliar becomes suspicious, dangerous, a threat.
One would hope that we, in our modern age, with all of our rules, regulations, and laws,
would have moved beyond such a primitive mental process. Well we have and we have not;
the main determining factor is time. If people perceive they have the time, if they are
willing to take the time, if they believe it's worth their time, they can quickly come to
more rational conclusions. A factor that works against us in this way is our modern age.
People have many topics, activities, etc. competing for their time; all too often there
isn't time to give deeper consideration to the new thing, circumstance, or person.
Given the deep roots of stereotypes and a general inability for people to give deep
consideration to all the new things they are confronted with daily, stereotypes are
here to stay. An important point is that a stereotype victimizes both the people who hold
them and those who are so described. The people who hold them are victims because they are
deprived of the opportunity to know someone who may have been a friend or have enriched
their life in some way.
In light of the above, the prospects of people ever being free of stereotypes seems
rather hopeless. The good news is that we can be free of them if we decide we want to.
We must learn not to accept stereotypes so easily. Get to know people rather than being
content with that feeble description. Encourage others to move beyond the stereotypes too.
Copyright © by Liesel Siobhan
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