Hello. I'm a psychology student. I'm on a one year-course of psychology, and I have a question about something I havent learned yet that perhaps belongs a bit further up in the curriculum. Here the other day I got a good feeling from harassing another person because of their hair-color. Could it be racial-evolutionary? That the subconscious gave me a good feeling after some sort of racial-evolutionary mechanism? Could you explain a bit about this theory? Thanks
It's your theory, why would you expect anyone else to be able to explain it? Frankly, it just sounds like you have a mean streak, and get a kick out of venting your spleen on others.
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fresco
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Sun 30 Mar, 2014 03:48 am
@Solomon 4,
The classical work is G.W.Allport "The Nature of Prejudice". You should refer to this as an academic source..
From a common sense point of view as well as comparison with other primates, it seems to me that "out-group" negative prejudice is an evolutionary disposition inherited by humans. Such prejudice would naturally focus on physical differences (including stylistic statements) first, followed by linguistic and social differences. Perhaps "social progress" can be measured by the success of humans to overcome such natural tendencies, bearing in mind that such progress is prone to drastic erosion in times of group conflict. I do not espouse this as a theory...merely an observation.
What do you mean by stylistic statements? So, from comparison with other primates, you think it is an evolutionary mechanism. So you believe that the subconscious gives good feelings to persons when they pick on racial issues, so that one is to do it more often? Thanks
Do you know which specific things primates pick on?
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fresco
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Sun 30 Mar, 2014 07:58 am
@Solomon 4,
Stylistic statements= clothing or dress to show departure from "the norm" or membership a sub-group.
Primates attack other groups of the same species, not merely over territory. They easily identify outsiders. In terms of "gene transmission" this appears to be an evolutionary mechanism.
I cannot myself identify with a scale that labels prejudicial thoughts as "good" or "bad". At the psychological level Prejudice may function merely to attempt to reduce "information overload". Intelligence tends to mitigate against value judgments. I would be wary of usage of pseudo-technical terms like "sub-conscious".At the social level, the social animal called "man" is one whose "self integrity" is a function what he thinks of as his social identity. But self integrity and/or its prejudicial leanings are rarely consistent.
What do you mean by: «At the psychological level Prejudice may function merely to attempt to reduce "information overload".»? And my second question is: Do primates tend to pick on a specific look of other primates, or damages like the missing of an limb or anything like that? Thanks
People throw the term evolutionary around in such a meaningless manner. I suppose they think it gives some cachet of scientific legitimacy to what are, in fact, idle speculations. For an evolutionary effect, a trait or behavior has to confer advantages which will be perpetrated and preserved through the process of natural selection. If you can't show how your "theory" has such an effect, through the mechanism of natural selection, you're just wool-gathering.
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fresco
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Sun 30 Mar, 2014 01:50 pm
@Solomon 4,
Information overload: Prejudice simplifies categories as in "all blondes are dumb". This reduces the need to process details.
As far as I know, primates identify each other by facial and bodily features, smell, and "dialect". They maraude in gangs rather than as individuals.
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Thomas
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Sun 30 Mar, 2014 05:08 pm
@Solomon 4,
Solomon 4 wrote:
Here the other day I got a good feeling from harassing another person because of their hair-color. Could it be racial-evolutionary?
Probably not. Other things being equal, this character trait will make you less likely to get into a woman's pants (assuming you're a heterosexual male), and hence impede the longevity of your genes. In the language of evolutionary biology, I'd say you're more likely a freak of mutation than a champion of natural selection.
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gungasnake
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Sun 30 Mar, 2014 05:14 pm
@Solomon 4,
Quote:
Here the other day I got a good feeling from harassing another person because of their hair-color.
Being an asshole has nothing to do with skin or hair color.
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fresco
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Mon 31 Mar, 2014 12:08 am
One liners make good copy.
If we are honest enough to observe some of our own behavior we see many "basic behaviors" which could be classed as socially unpalatable. Take watching boxing for example. From an ethical/social point of view, to call boxing a "sport" is ridiculous, yet for me and countless others, it seems to have a fascination from a psychological point of view.We can legitimately ask how far we have really come from exhibiting the blood-lust which fueled the Roman Games.
One rationalization is as good as another. Just because you went beyond your shame doesn't mean you shouldn't feel shame. A bully is just another asshole.
We don't know the details of the alleged "bullying" scenario, but if some simple minded extrovert was playing an adolescent game of "making a provocative statement" (with blue hair for example) he/she would be partially responsible for the nature of any subsequent social exchanges. The "shame" (if any) would be in descending to the level of giving the extrovert the attention they sought.
«Information overload: Prejudice simplifies categories as in "all blondes are dumb". This reduces the need to process details.» So this occurs when one sees a blond person? What need for processing details are you talking about? Thanks
You need to think in terms of human cognition as information processing operating as a decision procedures within time constraints. We are bombarded from birth by a plethora of potential information. Pattern perception/ rule assumptions facilitates the coping process. We anticipate and make assumptions all the time, sometimes with adverse results. Some patterns are culturally acquired (like "dumb blondes"), some are learned from personal experience, and some may be genetic (like the ability to acquire the rules of language).
All this is in "Psychology 101".
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raprap
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Thu 3 Apr, 2014 02:25 am
@Solomon 4,
I'm an old left handed ginger.
As a ginger you learn to get blamed for everything, because as a ginger you look like every other ginger from a distance.
"Oh yeah! I know who cause the ruckus. It was Johnny, Pete and that 'red headed' kid over there....."
Many an hour of my first two school grades were spent on the steps to the principal's office.
Then I was left-handed. My first grade teacher took left handed to mean 'sinister', and the left hand only led to evil.
I spent the first four months of the first grade sitting on my left hand. Fortunately my Grandmother found out what was happening and the teacher found herself sitting on the principal's steps. Unfortunately, at this school, there was only one first grade teacher.
So my 'racial evolutionary' feelings were learned early--just as they all are:
Yes. Your "Ginger reputation" story brings to mind research in social psychology in an African setting where the child was named after the day of the week on which he was born. Each day was associated with a personality trait and "Saturday" meant trouble. Examination of juvenile court records indeed showed a predominance of "Saturdays" as offenders, the explanation being that kids tended to behave according to what was expected of them !
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coa999
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Sun 20 Oct, 2019 05:20 am
@Solomon 4,
so you're happy you bullied somebody? I guess as a supposed psychology student you can understand sociopathy.