Are all people intolerant/prejudiced? If so, is that bad?

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nunqual

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Jul 18, 2010
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People can claim to support tolerance and condemn intolerance, but aren't they being intolerant of intolerance? Is that OK? Have we accepted intolerance and prejudism in our modern society? Those were a lot of questions that just popped into my head, sorry. A simpler version: Do you believe that all people are prejudiced or intolerant in some way? Is that a bad thing?
 

Julianking93

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Everyone is intolerant of something. No matter how much they argue the contrary, there's something they're intolerant about.
 

Talshere

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Yes. Of course they are. We all have our pet likes and dislikes. I do think however its been horrifically blown out of proportion. I think quite often now the most discriminated against group is often the indigenous majority population, and that in many regards minority's promote discrimination within themselves.

Its sad but its true.
 

crazyguy668

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Jul 15, 2009
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yes pretty much. if you(like me) are christian, than Jesus wasn't, but thats it. what i hate is how you can say anything about white straight males, but anything about any other group gets you socially murdered. not saying white males are any better, just that anyone ridiculing any group should be treated the same.


for example, why should affirmative action give minorities advantages getting into college, shouldn't it be based off accomplishments alone
 

ma55ter_fett

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Yes, everyone has their own prejudices it is a fact of human nature.

It is also one that I wish people would admit to, I have known many people who fail to practice what they preach when it comes to tolerance.
 

nunqual

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ma55ter_fett said:
Yes, everyone has their own prejudices it is a fact of human nature.
Why do you think that is? Why are humans naturally prejudiced? Sorry, I'm having a lot of questions in my head. You can treat that as a rhetorical question if you like.
 

viranimus

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Nov 20, 2009
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Absolutely. No its not bad, its just the way of things. It is only bad when someone become intolerant to the point of becoming hate filled and violent/aggressive towards others and making life for others worse.
 

Brumbsy

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IMO: The fact that the question exists proves that it does. Ideally, if something did not exist, there would be no questions towards its existence. Is it bad? Partially. The fact of the matter is though that the entire U.S. was founded because of intolerance. Intolerance separates most people from each other, but can create some massive things. It all depends on the magnitude of it...
 

SimuLord

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Aug 20, 2008
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Ninja'd with the Avenue Q reference. We've all got our own prejudices, some of which are stereotypes that have been reinforced so often that we can hardly be blamed for believing what our experiences have empirically proven.
 

nunqual

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viranimus said:
Absolutely. No its not bad, its just the way of things. It is only bad when someone become intolerant to the point of becoming hate filled and violent/aggressive towards others and making life for others worse.
What do you think causes people to turn normal intolerance into extreme intolerance? Sorry, I'm in a questioning mood.
 

burningdragoon

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Jul 27, 2009
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crazyguy668 said:
for example, why should affirmative action give minorities advantages getting into college, shouldn't it be based off accomplishments alone
I believe that is to (in part) provide the opportunity to break a cycle of the less fortunate staying less fortunate due to factors they can't control. Whether or not it's effective I have no idea.

Intolerance... will not be tolerated. Seriously though, it's probably goes back to how are species evolved. Being wary of other groups try to steal you turkey legs and women.
 

Pariah87

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nunqual said:
Why do you think that is? Why are humans naturally prejudiced? Sorry, I'm having a lot of questions in my head. You can treat that as a rhetorical question if you like.
It probably boils down to the old survival instincts coupled with the human species incredible sense of self importance.

Simply put, anything seen as different will be viewed subconciously as a threat which has the potential to change the social structure of any given group. Our social nature was our biggest asset to survival over the years, to the point that when even now, when we live in a global society, people still seek out like minded individuals or causes to join up with.

Look at the Escapist. It's a pretty liberal place by any standard, centered around a mutual enjoyment of videogames. Debates may occur but generally the user base of the Escapist is agreed on most aspects of morality/ideals and so on. Now throw a rascist into the mix. The group as a whole will see it as something which is different/unwelcome based on its own group standards and it will quickly be taken out of the picture with mod wrath.

Now take a white power website, everyone there is based around the same ideal. An escapist finds himself there and offers his/her own opinion which will contrast greatly with the existing opinions of the user base and will be dealt with and banned so as not to cause more disruption.

This happens on a larger scale aswell. Something is seen as a threat, it is circulated amongst the masses so it is at the forefront of social conciousness, which then moves against the now "undesireable" element. Look at smokers. 50 years ago people didn't bat an eyelid, it was seen as a social thing to do. Now, we are told repeatedly that it is bad, the majority take that on board and as a result begin to ostracise those who still smoke.

I know that was a ramble, it's 4 am so I'm not all together, but essentially, people are predjudice to preserve the stability of the current cultural norms.
 

Talshere

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nunqual said:
ma55ter_fett said:
Yes, everyone has their own prejudices it is a fact of human nature.
Why do you think that is? Why are humans naturally prejudiced? Sorry, I'm having a lot of questions in my head. You can treat that as a rhetorical question if you like.
Because personality's and likes and dislikes are so varied you will find 2 people who dislike each other so strongly they pretty much come to blows every time they meet. These 2 people will have people who agree with them and share their views. The moment ones of these groups becomes large/stronger they will inanity promote THEIR ideas. I mean, they are correct. At least they think so. As a result they will push their wants and ideas and beliefs on the smaller group, because they know they can. For their own good of course.

And here we have discrimination.

If you cant understand. Try this as quite a common one. Many men find the idea of being gay, and a man being with a man so repulsive it makes them feel sick. It feels unnatural to the extreme. Even I get uncomfortable about 2 guys kissing in a way I just don't for opposite sex couple or even lesbian couples, and I like to think myself open minded. I don't show it and I wouldn't mention it but its there. Now if you took someone who was repulsed by it not just made uncomfortable, and to some extent its only natural they would try and prevent this from occurring.

To some extent I both can and cant get religious discrimination. I get the mechanics of it. But I never understood the whole you worship god wrong bid. The 3 primary "warring" religions are all based off the same bloody thing, and on an even more trivial not the British civil was between Catholics and Protestants. Bloody stupid. Although I suppose that was more to do with the Catholic view on the Divine Right of Kings :/ Which makes far more sense.
 

nunqual

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Jul 18, 2010
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Pariah87 said:
nunqual said:
Why do you think that is? Why are humans naturally prejudiced? Sorry, I'm having a lot of questions in my head. You can treat that as a rhetorical question if you like.
It probably boils down to the old survival instincts coupled with the human species incredible sense of self importance.

Simply put, anything seen as different will be viewed subconciously as a threat which has the potential to change the social structure of any given group. Our social nature was our biggest asset to survival over the years, to the point that when even now, when we live in a global society, people still seek out like minded individuals or causes to join up with.

Look at the Escapist. It's a pretty liberal place by any standard, centered around a mutual enjoyment of videogames. Debates may occur but generally the user base of the Escapist is agreed on most aspects of morality/ideals and so on. Now throw a rascist into the mix. The group as a whole will see it as something which is different/unwelcome based on its own group standards and it will quickly be taken out of the picture with mod wrath.

Now take a white power website, everyone there is based around the same ideal. An escapist finds himself there and offers his/her own opinion which will contrast greatly with the existing opinions of the user base and will be dealt with and banned so as not to cause more disruption.

This happens on a larger scale aswell. Something is seen as a threat, it is circulated amongst the masses so it is at the forefront of social conciousness, which then moves against the now "undesireable" element. Look at smokers. 50 years ago people didn't bat an eyelid, it was seen as a social thing to do. Now, we are told repeatedly that it is bad, the majority take that on board and as a result begin to ostracise those who still smoke.

I know that was a ramble, it's 4 am so I'm not all together, but essentially, people are predjudice to preserve the stability of the current cultural norms.
The one thing I thought about through all of that is white blood cells determining a threat, getting rid of it, and then the body does not allow that threat to exist at all. Maybe that doesn't work all that well as a metaphor, but for some reason it penetrated my thoughts. That was a good explanation, by the way, especially for a 4 am ramble.
 

Sneaky-Pie

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Julianking93 said:
Everyone is intolerant of something. No matter how much they argue the contrary, there's something they're intolerant about.
First reply nails it.

Way to go, guy!