When meeting someone for the first time, it's like pulling a movie off of the shelf at Blockbuster. The title of the movie is "Bullets and Bombs" and is in the action/adventure section with an 'R' rating. We can assume the film will be full of blood, guts and glory, have a very shallow plot and contain a fair amount of profanity. It's in our nature and nurture to label things. Categories are created to simplify the process, whether that be choosing a movie or deciding what to eat from a menu at a restaurant. Surely one would not find the cesear salad mixed in with the beverage section of the menu. Because our brains are wired for organization, our social interactions are hindered with a non-objectivity that is difficult to alter. The first impression, as previously discussed, applies a categorical label to the subject and only future experiences with the subject can modify the label. Although the label is not directly a fault of our own, it is our responsibility to form a relationship with the subject that destroys the label and replaces it with the individual's name.
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So should we seek to maintain a friendship with everyone? Are labeling people in your mind ever a bad thing? If it is, is there a way to turn off your labeling machine?
ReplyDeleteMaintaining a friendship with everyone we come in contact with would be a physical and emotional impossibility. I am merely suggesting that an increase in these meaningful relationships will narrow the gap between generalization and personalization of individuals with whom we come in contact. The labels are always going to be applied and are part of human nature however, they will become more broad as we begin to understand that humans are all very similar and applying these provincial labels is unfair to the subject.
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