R&S regulars: Are you prejudiced?

Question

I'm going to wait for a few answers before I post a hypothetical scenario, so do come back and recheck your answers.

I know that many of you will certainly re-think and re-evaluate your responses. In fact, I know that given the same question and situation, I would have to think long and hard myself.

So don't think that I'm picking you apart, or anything like that. Just raising an interesting new angle for you.

wow. I was pleasantly surprised by the honesty. Scenario to follow in about an hour

Hypothetical scenario:

If I were to create a new account on Answers, and name it 'Mr Troll Patrol Boss', and also use the familiar avatar we've all come to know and be wary of, would you allow me on your fan list?

Don't forget, I wouldn't be BEHAVING like the Troll Patrol boss, although surely you would make an immediate connection, and block me, maybe even report me.

I know I would, and that makes me highly prejudiced and judgmental. Not proud to admit it, but I see it as true.

Answer 1

I don't think I generally am, so my answer in most situations would be No. But I'll have to wait to see the scenario you're offering up.

Am I predgudice based on race? No
Religion? No - although I can't wrap my head around scientology.
Sexual orientation? No
Age? No
Ability or Disability? No

But I do think we all are intolerant SOMEWHERE in our lives.

EDIT: I try to check to profile's of anyone wanting to connect with me here - I also think Daughter's idea of never adding anyone under a level three is good - but then I wouldn't be able to add back my friends who get axed and start new accounts. I probably would not add a troll patrol avatar. So that's one area I'm intolerant in my life. LOL - I hate that old troll patrol crap.

Answer 2

To be honest, I think all people are prejudiced. We all have prior judgements on a range of topics, ideas, individuals and issues.

The biggest challenge is realising one's own prejudices and allowing for the way they may sway one's own judgement. Most of the time we get by with them and our corner of the world is fine, but it is confronting when one has to own up to those same prejudices and defend or explain them when they are, let's say, particularly subjective. But there are different types of prejudice - for example, a prejudice in favour of empirical evidence and which is part of the basis of our legal system, is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it can save a great deal of speculation that may well be not to the purpose or even harmful.

My answer is, therefore, yes, I have little doubt that I am. I just hope I don't carry too many that are unfair or unjust, or that I at least am prepared to make the effort to reconsider them. That's sometimes easier said than done!

While Mr Troll Patrol Boss hasn't affected me personally, I think I'd be cautious, to say the least, before I allowed you to add me to your buddy list. I'd prefer not to be associated with that kind of person because I find his (or her) behaviour obnoxious and against the spirit of forums like this. If you could assure me otherwise, then I would probably add you.

Answer 3

I agree with some of the others here, that everyone has some prejudices. My mother once told me that the word "discrimination" used to be considered as applicable to a person with a intelligent and discerning eye. So if you are " discriminating" or if you"pre-judge" a person, you are using your mind, your experience and your intelligence.

Obviously the feeling of the words has changed. But the underlying logic behind the former usage is still with us. We pre-judge a person or a situation because, if we ignore all our experience and the information we have learned about a particular set of circumstances, we have to re-learn them every time we encounter that same situation again. This would be very inefficient.

It can be a safe guard, but it is often unnecessary and the situation is innocuous. However, every now and then, that cautious voice will inform us about a potential danger it feels from a person or situation, and then it might save your life.
Of course, prejudice all the time and when probably uncalled for is to be avoided. But anyone who says they have no prejudices is lying to themselves.

in my opinion

BB,
LM )0(

Answer 4

I don't think anyone can claim to be totally 100% unprejudiced. One may not act negatively on those predjudices but if, for example, I say I'm going to meet a homosexual, and you create an image of what you expect the person might be like because of that one word, that is prejudice (i.e. judging what someone is like before meeting them).

Prejudice is not always negative. For example, I could come to the conclusion that someone I have never met is a nice person, because they are a buddhist. That is still prejudice.

Personally, occasionally yes I find myself judging someone on some aspect of their appearance, for which I have to correct myself. However, as far as I know, I don't act upon this flashes of thought.
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edit: yes, I would be wary. However, I am loathe to block my questions and answers from other people if I can avoid it. So I would probably allow you to be there unless your addition to my fans coincided with a sudden increase in violations, in which case I would make the conclusion (whether or not it would be justified) that the two were linked and I'd certainly block you.

Answer 5

Everyone is prejudiced - whether they admit it or not. We judge people on all sorts of irrational values. (I myself have a pathological loathing of Daily Mail readers, even though I know logically that there are probably a few decent people who buy that rag.)

The important distinction is not between those who are and those who aren't prejudiced. It's between those who admit they are and those who don't.

The biggest give-away is the person who starts a sentence with "I'm not prejudiced but..." This translates as "Not only am I prejudiced, but I'm too dishonest with myself to admit it."

As to you hypothetical Troll Patrol question - that's not really an example of prejudice. People who have experienced a user with that name and avatar may have perfectly valid reasons to be wary of them: the whole point of user names and avatars on a site like this is to make ourselves identifiable to other users, so people would not really be prejudiced in doing this.

Answer 6

I would be lying if I said I'm not prejudiced, I'm still working on that area. If you're asking about that particular scenario then I wouldn't. Before adding someone to my fan list, I check some of their answers and questions; this is why my friends may be very different from each other. You'll find people with different creeds than mine, still they proved to be tolerant and understanding so I've welcomed them into my list and my heart.

Answer 7

We all see the world through our own perceptions and filters. So while the word "prejudiced" has a negative connotation, what it really means is to "pre-judge" something and there's no escaping the fact that we all do this to varying degrees. Much of it is harmless, for example I am partially color-blind and I will pre-judge something to be brown and you will tell me 'no, it is green.' The media are our biggest filters, as they pre-judge for us what we they think is newsworthy and what we should or should not be paying attention to (I refuse to believe that, left to our own devices, most people would follow the personal melt-down of Britney Spears with such absorption -- that's media fascination and pig-trough journalism at work).

If one of your screens is a moral and ethical framework, you are more likely to "catch yourself" before a negative, prejudiced thought can become a prejudiced expression or action. Like everything else in life, you CAN work reducing the negative impacts.

Answer 8

I havent blocked or reported any Troll patrol .... yet
I havent had any personal reason to ... although I know some have
so for me , you have to step on my toes personally ... until then I give you the benefit of the doubt

I am trying to think who I am prejudice against.....
I do not trust people who drink or take drugs , from past experiences that have left me this way , I am trying to overcome that
and I hate hate... although I try to understand why someone hates rather than showing hate back

Answer 9

Against entire groups of people without valid reason? NO.
Against people who have mistreated me in the past, YES, for sure.

Now, as for the Troll patrol identity. Troll Patrol has made threats against me and my account. So, by YOU taking on the identity of a Troll Patrol leader, it would tell me that you have taken up support for them and accordingly, you TOO would join my blocked list. As I make an income from my Yahoo e-mail account (it's my contact adress for my E-bay account and my Amazon.com account), I feel that to err on the side of caution is a WISE move to make. Right or wrong, it's entirely a move of self preservation. However, your current standing as a member of my current contacts list would be unaffected unless you actually began behaving as a TP member. Then ALL your accounts would be history on my contacts list.

Does that make sense to you?

BB,
Raji the Green Witch

Answer 10

We are all prejudiced.

What would make me think you would want to be on my fan list ha.

My reporting you or not would most likely be based on your past actions and your behaviour in your current "troll patrol" identity. Although obviously i wouldn't be able to tell your exact behaviour all the time, so i would give it some thought and probably report you if i were having a bad day.

Or possibly if i stopped liking bunnies.