Are the prejudices really baseless?

The Oxford dictionary defines prejudice as “preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.”

However, at least some of the opinions, which the establishment labels as prejudices, are rooted in actual experience.

For example, the prejudice of rural folks against big city people was confirmed by such an unprejudiced person as Stanley Milgram.

Is there any prejudice, which is really nonsensical, not based on reason and facts?

reply to post by simus

Wow, what an incredibly politically correct definition. Either that definition needs to be updated or there needs to be a new word.

Dictionary definition aside, I just thought it was a general dislike based on a personal opinion?

As for stereotypes, I would argue that many people would say they are based on some truth.

reply to post by simus


I think the prejudice comes from believing that, for example, all (black, white, brown, fat, skinny, city dwelling, rural dwelling etc.) people are bad because you had a bad experience with one (insert descriptive label here) person. It is the generalization, the lumping of all into one or 10 or 100 - that generalization is not logical and it is not based on personal experience because you have not met ALL of these people...

The oxford definition of the word does not represent its common usage and understanding. Prejudice is to "prejudge". Most often we take a predjudice learned through experience with a person or people, and then apply it to others that remind us of them. Typically this relates to how they look....but to be honest I don't like people named Mark typically (i have been burned by many "Marks" in my life and have to get over that when meeting a new "Mark").

If someone has had a series of negative emotions related to any person, then they will dislike others who remind them of that person. That is what prejudice usually is.

In that understanding, you could say that there is no logic or reason, other than ill formed logic and poor reason, to prejudge someone. As an individual they cannot be held to account for others individuals just by some wholly unrelated association like color of skin, or nationality.

No person is equal to another person.
This is the nature of humanity.
Race, creed, religion, age, education, nationality, experience, genetic predisposition and just plain attitude all serve to make every human different. This is a simple fact.
Any prejudice is based upon something. We all have these prejudices from basic instinct to formal education. There is no such thing as a person that has no prejudice because we are wired with them from birth.

All of that being said. What we do with our prejudices or preconceived notions or instincts or feelings is a totally different matter.

Is there a basis for prejudice, sure but that doesn't mean it really matters.
We overcome prejudice throughout our lives by learning, changing and making conscious decisions to make our relationships with other people more important than a preconceived idea.

The problem comes along when people hold on to a prejudice or stop trying to improve themselves.

Originally posted by Miri08
reply to post by simus

 

I think the prejudice comes from believing that, for example, all (black, white, brown, fat, skinny, city dwelling, rural dwelling etc.) people are bad because you had a bad experience with one (insert descriptive label here) person. It is the generalization, the lumping of all into one or 10 or 100 - that generalization is not logical and it is not based on personal experience because you have not met ALL of these people...

I am talking about popular prejudices, formed in collectives. Since many members of a group had interracted with people of certain category, the group as a whole had enough experience. Popular opinion does not have access to statistics, so the group generalizes its experience in the form of a prejudice. The fact is that at least some of the prejudices are statistically sound. That is the trait the prejudice attributes to certain category of people a great majority of them does indeed have.

reply to post by simus

prejudices are not baseless they are pointless.

Originally posted by Char-Lee
reply to post by simus

 

prejudices are not baseless they are pointless.

What about the prejudices that car insurance companies have against certain zip codes? Also pointless? Should be banned?

Originally posted by simus

Originally posted by Char-Lee
reply to post by simus

 

prejudices are not baseless they are pointless.

What about the prejudices that car insurance companies have against certain zip codes? Also pointless? Should be banned?

Well...that is an interesting question. I, personally, have my own answer without really thinking about it. But I fully understand the merits of the opposing viewpoint.

Of course, if there is greater risk in a certain zip code, the insurance company should be allowed to charge a higher premium. But the risk should always be determined by statistics.

The thing is, insurance is gambling. Would you consider it a fair bet if you were hamstringing one of the participants?

My hostilities aren't. They are based on experience from how certain kinds of people have treated me over the years. It's often always the same thing being said too.

For example, people who berate me because I don't use logic always say the same damned thing. "You got nothing but a baseless claim and therefore are an idiot." so on and so forth. I get so tired of hearing the same damned thing over and over and over again. But that's the definition of insanity, always expecting a different result when something repeats itself over and over and over again. What this kind of stuff really amounts to is "OMFG you aren't like me so I must berate you because I am an intolerant child giving in to my bigotries because you don't meet my expectations of how I was taught to be!" junk.

Otherwise, I really don't care if a person is of a different ethnicity than I am, or is gay, or is Christian, or conservative or liberal, or what they believe, at least to a point. As long as I am treated with respect I will do my best to return the favor. If it's somebody I can't stand I will do what I can to avoid them like the plague and pretty much leave them alone.

What matters to me more is how they intend to act on those beliefs. For example, while racism may bother me, I just don't care about shutting them up, they have every right to express their opinion. I won't tell them to shut up. I'll just change the channel and ignore them. Telling somebody to shut up is, well, intolerant and truly tolerant people have a real backbone and don't tell people to shut up just because they don't want to hear it.

If they intend to enact legislation that actively segregates and discriminates against people, I won't support it and I'll fight it any way I can.

I don't know if this makes any sense to you guys, but there you go.

I have a certain kind of ethical code to which I follow.

What's the difference between predjudice and stereotyping?

I usually find that stereotypes do have some base in reality and percentages.
But when I meet an individual of that stereotyped group, I try to refrain from pre-judging them, because there are always exceptions and minorities within it, and this person might be one.

Though... I have heard some stereotypes that I found to have no base in reality that I can find!

Like I am in France, and hear Americans say often that the french women do not shave. The fact is that french women all wax their whole bodies- they have less body hair than what I ever experienced of women in America.

I have also heard that they hate Americans, and yet have never in 20 years seen any evidence of that (only of admiration and worship).

But I have hypothesized that the hair thing might have started during WW2 when american soldiers came while they were starving and had no running water?
And the hatred thing might be simply a result of Bush's campaign to stir hatred in the US against the french.

So that made me think that we should still be careful about assuming all stereotypes and predjudices are founded in reality...

Prejudices and stereotypes are survival mechanisms. How do you instinctively know not to wander into a bad neighborhood? How do you know it is bad in the first place? Same thing goes for interacting with certain types of people.

Liberal social engineering makes you think you are wrong for not going into bad neighborhoods or by keeping away from certain types of people as a general rule.

Originally posted by WhatAreThey
Liberal social engineering makes you think you are wrong for not going into bad neighborhoods or by keeping away from certain types of people as a general rule.

This is because they are independent from reality. Read how a group of PhD liberals could not tell an actor from a renowned scientist.