Other genders, races, nationalities, ethnic groups? Why can't we understand those who are different?
2006-08-26 11:26:32 · 14 answers · asked by Aloofly Goofy 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Other - Society & Culture
Good question and one I've been wondering about whilst answering other questions. It seems like we are stuck in our own reality and not many of us evolve. I think we all have our own opinions formed through our limited experiences and they seem to be so hard to change. Nobody seems to say "hang on a minute, they're right and I was wrong". On a big scale that's what causes wars.
Tough one to answer, but I guess we have to admit that we are all flawed. You can't really understand people until you have walked in everybody's shoes... and that's impossible.
2006-08-26 11:35:07 · answer #1 · answered by Empea 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Have you ever watched somebody who thought he was super-clever and ultra-slick try to deceive somebody... and get caught in his lies and tricks a long time before he knows that he has been caught?
The "Why-can't-we-Just-Get-Along" routine is a trick, and Whites have caught on to it. It's a "Jewish truce"; i.e., after an attack, an aggressor stalls a counteroffensive from his opponent by offering a ceasefire for "talks" and by making phony overtures of peace, which he betrays at his earliest convenience. The "talks" are a ruse the aggressor uses to buy time to build fortifications and renew supplies of war materiel.
In Black-White terms, the "Why Can't We All Get Along" routine signals the beginning of an interlude between ***** urban riots.
The problems between the races, at least in America, isn't a lack of understanding. Whites understand Blacks only too well. That's why Whites perfer to keep their distance, why they go somewhere else when you enter the neighborhood. Yes, Blacks are different than Whites. But a difference does not prevent understanding. And understanding does not guarantee approval or friendship.
2006-08-26 20:14:22 · answer #2 · answered by David S 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We don't see each other as people. We see Black Guy. We see White Woman. We see Middle-Easterner. All of the sudden, all we can do is focus on stereotypes we've been exposed to all of our lives and think that this guy must be in a gang, or she must be a sl**, or he must be a terrorist, and we cancel out any chance we ever had to build a relationship with that person.
Many of us don't even want to build relationships with each other, either. We just say to ourselves, "Oh, he's white. He must be racist," and up goes the wall. We sit back, without even talking to a person, and formulate our thoughts and ideas of what "their kind" is like, and don't even bother to get to know them. It's much easier to just put people into molds, to say this is a Jock, this is a Cheerleader, this is a Nerd and assign traits to each person, than to say, "This is John. His mom died when he was two." or "This is Ashley. She's worked really hard and now she's in college." We don't take the time to realize that despite our physical differences, we laugh, we cry, we smile, we worry, we hope--we experience the same things because we are all human.
2006-08-26 18:37:07 · answer #3 · answered by brittbenny08 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Different Languages!
2006-08-26 18:28:16 · answer #4 · answered by Steph :-) 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
People fear what they don't understand. It is much easier for people to denigrate and de-value someone because it makes them feel more powerful. People focus on perceived or real negatives of others because then it validates them and makes them feel they are "right" to avoid, denigrate and perpetuate stereotypes rather than spending time/energy trying to really get to know or understand individuals who are different from themselves.
2006-08-26 18:32:11 · answer #5 · answered by nquizzitiv 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The fact that we are born and raised to believe certain things, and not others. We are programmed a certain way, and even though we are not robots, it is hard for us to understand anything that has a formula with the slightest variation from the formula programmed in our brains.
2006-08-26 18:32:08 · answer #6 · answered by Mx2 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think because people are basically selfish, they want things their way. It's a rare person who is unselfish enough to get passed it and if they are, they don't succeed. It's the folks that are good at being selfish that succeed.
just may take on it.
2006-08-26 18:34:41 · answer #7 · answered by Rogue Scrapbooker 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mankind in general, has a problem with self promoting themselves, believing that they are the best, and I think, all races are guilty of this...............:)
2006-08-26 19:35:54 · answer #8 · answered by tictak kat 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We don't understand those who aren't like us. We know those who grew up with us in our environment.
2006-08-26 18:30:39 · answer #9 · answered by Redina 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
send me a message and I'll send you to my website. On it has a whole page entitled "perceptions".
2006-08-26 18:30:03 · answer #10 · answered by sophieb 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋