August 26, 2010 at 17:51About stereotypes
The article is published at the request of my friend kokoff .
After reading articles on the human brain for a long time it was not possible to write about what was conceived, but finally it did. I noticed a frequently encountered definition, which I made in the heading. I myself am very interested in this side of human psychology. I believe that sometimes it plays an unnecessarily strong role in the lives of some people. What is sin to hide? I myself have a couple of stereotypes that are annoying and I am actively fighting them. With all the content that is under the cut, I want to reveal in detail the essence of the concept and some problems associated with it. For presentation I used literature, the Internet and personal life experience. Content article - I hope it will be interesting and useful to read.
A stereotype is a standardized, simplified and flattened, usually brightly emotionally colored image of a socio-political object (phenomenon, process), which has significant stability, but captures only some, sometimes irrelevant, features. Sometimes defined as an inaccurate, irrational, overly general idea. In a broad sense, it is a traditional canon of thought, perception and behavior, a template manner of behavior. (D.V. Olshansky, p. 89). Initially, a “stereotype” is a metaphor for thinking that came from printing, where a stereotype is a monolithic printed form, a copy from a printing set or cliché, used for rotational printing of large-volume publications. Also, a stereotype is called an established attitude to current events, developed on the basis of comparing them with internal ideals.
The field of constructing stereotypes extends from delusional fantasies to the conscious use by scientists of rounded calculation results. The whole human culture is mainly the selection, reorganization, tracking of different models of the environment. That is, the formation of stereotypes is a saving of one’s own efforts, since an attempt to see all things anew and in detail, rather than as types and generalizations, is tiring, and for a busy person it is almost doomed to failure. In addition, cases of rejection of typifications should be noted: in a close circle there is no way to substitute an individualized understanding for something or somehow save on it. Those we love and admire know ourselves rather than the classification under which we can be led. In addition to saving effort, stereotypes, apparently, perform another function: stereotype systems can serve as the core of our personal tradition, a way of protecting our position in society. They represent an ordered, more or less consistent picture of the world. It conveniently housed our habits, tastes, abilities, pleasures and hopes. The stereotypical picture of the world may not be complete, but it is a picture of a possible world to which we have adapted. In this world, people and objects occupy their intended places and act in the expected manner. We feel at home in this world, we are an integral part of it. Therefore, it is not surprising that any change in stereotypes is perceived as an attack on the foundations of the universe. This is an attack on the foundations of our world, and when it comes to serious things, it’s really not so easy for us to assume that there is some difference between our personal world and the world in general.
The system of stereotypes is not just a way of replacing magnificent diversity and disordered reality with an orderly view of it, only a shortened and simplified way of perception. Stereotypes guarantee our self-esteem; project awareness of our values into the outside world; protect our position in society and our rights, and therefore, stereotypes are filled with feelings, preferences, likes or dislikes, are associated with fears, desires, drives, pride, hope. An object that activates a stereotype is evaluated in connection with the corresponding emotions.
The stereotype begins to act even before the mind is turned on. This leaves a specific imprint on the data that are perceived by our senses even before these data reach the mind. Nothing resists education or criticism like a stereotype, since it leaves its mark on the actual data at the time of its perception.
In cases where experience conflicts with a stereotype, a twofold outcome is possible: if an individual has already lost some flexibility or because of some significant interest it is extremely inconvenient to change his stereotypes, he can ignore this contradiction and consider it an exception confirming the rule, or find some mistake, and then forget about this event. But if he has not lost his curiosity or ability to think, then the innovation integrates into the already existing picture of the world and changes it.
The tendency to stereotypical perception of the world is to a large extent the basis of thinking of neurotypical people, and does not belong (or belongs to a small extent) to some less numerous categories: yogis (spiritual development), indigo aspergers, etc. (innate immunity), simply intellectually developed individuals (conscious reevaluation).
A person creates a standard, template way of thinking and behavior based on established stereotypes, traditions and customs that affect our thinking and life experience. A person depends on the general opinion of the crowd, on laws and statements proved by someone, but not verified by him. He believes in universally recognized norms and rules and tries to find his logical explanation for them, even if he does not know the true state of affairs.
Nature does not like emptiness, it fills it with something. If a person does not have his own opinion, there is no certainty on a particular issue, then he will have someone else's opinion, often this is the majority opinion, the so-called public opinion. This principle also applies to the upbringing of the young generation, in the sense that if the parents do not occupy their child with good deeds, then he will probably deal with bad deeds.
A person tries to reason logically any phenomenon, reality, problem, relying on some general information, on his knowledge and experience. Often, these explanations coincide, especially for those people who do not have enough knowledge of the history of the issue, once again pointing to stereotypes of thinking.
A survey of students was conducted on the pattern of letters on the keyboard of a computer or typewriter. Not knowing the true state of things, students had an erroneous, but, as it seemed to them, logically sound point of view. Almost unanimously, the idea was expressed that the arrangement of letters in the existing order was selected for the highest printing speed. Some even suggested that once in the past, numerous studies were conducted on the dependence of print speed on the location of letters on the keyboard, which led to the present result, and they allegedly read about it somewhere.
Everything turned out to be exactly the opposite - the letters on the keyboard are arranged in such a way so that they are printed not faster, but slower. This secret is revealed in one of his novels by Paulo Coelho. He says that when Christopher Scholes invented the first typewriter in 1873, the problem of pushing hammers and jamming of the typewriter arose at high printing speeds. Eliminating this inconvenience, I had to change the arrangement of letters to slow down the typing speed, then the first prototype of a modern keyboard with letters in the first row of QWERTYUIO appeared ... etc. Then, this innovation was picked up by other manufacturers, and soon, this option for the arrangement of letters became the only one.
Ultimately, it is the stereotypes of thinking due to a lack of information that are the source of various prejudices, superstitions, various mystical teachings, when a person tries to logically substantiate his successes and failures, ups and downs, a happy accident and a streak of bad luck in life.
Stereotypes here and there: in relation to people, deeds, actions, things. Do not push your mind to the borders, give it freedom, give hope to find something that contradicts it, so you only broaden your horizons and understanding of the world in which you live. Learn everything from your own experience! Do not listen to the ravings of the first comer, drive away thoughts that they drive into our heads every day! Be real, we are people, and not virtual programs working according to the scheme (read living on stereotypes)!
It turns out that stereotypes interfere, but in some situations they help. And the question of whether it is necessary to abandon them completely and irrevocably cannot be resolved unambiguously! On the one hand, it is certainly necessary to live bored, focusing only on the outer shell. This is a kind of emptiness of some kind. Due to the catastrophic lack of time, we often forget about the most important thing, about internal individualization, about the spiritual world of a person. It’s easy to write a person in one group or another, seeing his hair or eye color (blue-eyed men, they say, are cold), but it’s much harder to figure it out, understand this person! And it’s much more interesting to see individuality in a person!
It often happens that if someone does not correspond to someone’s stereotypes, he becomes a kind of exile. Why? In my opinion, non-standard is very attractive, although on the other hand, it will be difficult for a non-standard dressed person to work in an office where everyone goes in strict, business suits. Probably, everything should be in moderation.
How to be? How to live? :) To fight stereotypes or vice versa to open up to them - you decide.
This is a topic for further discussion. If you liked the article, you can continue on the topic.
__
Let me remind you that the article was prepared by kokoff . Please send thanks or rays of anger to him.
After reading articles on the human brain for a long time it was not possible to write about what was conceived, but finally it did. I noticed a frequently encountered definition, which I made in the heading. I myself am very interested in this side of human psychology. I believe that sometimes it plays an unnecessarily strong role in the lives of some people. What is sin to hide? I myself have a couple of stereotypes that are annoying and I am actively fighting them. With all the content that is under the cut, I want to reveal in detail the essence of the concept and some problems associated with it. For presentation I used literature, the Internet and personal life experience. Content article - I hope it will be interesting and useful to read.
A stereotype is a standardized, simplified and flattened, usually brightly emotionally colored image of a socio-political object (phenomenon, process), which has significant stability, but captures only some, sometimes irrelevant, features. Sometimes defined as an inaccurate, irrational, overly general idea. In a broad sense, it is a traditional canon of thought, perception and behavior, a template manner of behavior. (D.V. Olshansky, p. 89). Initially, a “stereotype” is a metaphor for thinking that came from printing, where a stereotype is a monolithic printed form, a copy from a printing set or cliché, used for rotational printing of large-volume publications. Also, a stereotype is called an established attitude to current events, developed on the basis of comparing them with internal ideals.
The field of constructing stereotypes extends from delusional fantasies to the conscious use by scientists of rounded calculation results. The whole human culture is mainly the selection, reorganization, tracking of different models of the environment. That is, the formation of stereotypes is a saving of one’s own efforts, since an attempt to see all things anew and in detail, rather than as types and generalizations, is tiring, and for a busy person it is almost doomed to failure. In addition, cases of rejection of typifications should be noted: in a close circle there is no way to substitute an individualized understanding for something or somehow save on it. Those we love and admire know ourselves rather than the classification under which we can be led. In addition to saving effort, stereotypes, apparently, perform another function: stereotype systems can serve as the core of our personal tradition, a way of protecting our position in society. They represent an ordered, more or less consistent picture of the world. It conveniently housed our habits, tastes, abilities, pleasures and hopes. The stereotypical picture of the world may not be complete, but it is a picture of a possible world to which we have adapted. In this world, people and objects occupy their intended places and act in the expected manner. We feel at home in this world, we are an integral part of it. Therefore, it is not surprising that any change in stereotypes is perceived as an attack on the foundations of the universe. This is an attack on the foundations of our world, and when it comes to serious things, it’s really not so easy for us to assume that there is some difference between our personal world and the world in general.
The system of stereotypes is not just a way of replacing magnificent diversity and disordered reality with an orderly view of it, only a shortened and simplified way of perception. Stereotypes guarantee our self-esteem; project awareness of our values into the outside world; protect our position in society and our rights, and therefore, stereotypes are filled with feelings, preferences, likes or dislikes, are associated with fears, desires, drives, pride, hope. An object that activates a stereotype is evaluated in connection with the corresponding emotions.
The stereotype begins to act even before the mind is turned on. This leaves a specific imprint on the data that are perceived by our senses even before these data reach the mind. Nothing resists education or criticism like a stereotype, since it leaves its mark on the actual data at the time of its perception.
In cases where experience conflicts with a stereotype, a twofold outcome is possible: if an individual has already lost some flexibility or because of some significant interest it is extremely inconvenient to change his stereotypes, he can ignore this contradiction and consider it an exception confirming the rule, or find some mistake, and then forget about this event. But if he has not lost his curiosity or ability to think, then the innovation integrates into the already existing picture of the world and changes it.
The tendency to stereotypical perception of the world is to a large extent the basis of thinking of neurotypical people, and does not belong (or belongs to a small extent) to some less numerous categories: yogis (spiritual development), indigo aspergers, etc. (innate immunity), simply intellectually developed individuals (conscious reevaluation).
Stereotypic thinking
This is, first of all, a convenient form of human existence. The desire to systematize everything, to bring it under one line greatly simplifies life, but, on the other hand, makes it less interesting and varied. A phrase, such as: “Ah, well, she is blonde!” ... And everything seems to be clear to everyone! But in fact, people are all different, with their own characters, with their own views ...A person creates a standard, template way of thinking and behavior based on established stereotypes, traditions and customs that affect our thinking and life experience. A person depends on the general opinion of the crowd, on laws and statements proved by someone, but not verified by him. He believes in universally recognized norms and rules and tries to find his logical explanation for them, even if he does not know the true state of affairs.
Nature does not like emptiness, it fills it with something. If a person does not have his own opinion, there is no certainty on a particular issue, then he will have someone else's opinion, often this is the majority opinion, the so-called public opinion. This principle also applies to the upbringing of the young generation, in the sense that if the parents do not occupy their child with good deeds, then he will probably deal with bad deeds.
A person tries to reason logically any phenomenon, reality, problem, relying on some general information, on his knowledge and experience. Often, these explanations coincide, especially for those people who do not have enough knowledge of the history of the issue, once again pointing to stereotypes of thinking.
A survey of students was conducted on the pattern of letters on the keyboard of a computer or typewriter. Not knowing the true state of things, students had an erroneous, but, as it seemed to them, logically sound point of view. Almost unanimously, the idea was expressed that the arrangement of letters in the existing order was selected for the highest printing speed. Some even suggested that once in the past, numerous studies were conducted on the dependence of print speed on the location of letters on the keyboard, which led to the present result, and they allegedly read about it somewhere.
Everything turned out to be exactly the opposite - the letters on the keyboard are arranged in such a way so that they are printed not faster, but slower. This secret is revealed in one of his novels by Paulo Coelho. He says that when Christopher Scholes invented the first typewriter in 1873, the problem of pushing hammers and jamming of the typewriter arose at high printing speeds. Eliminating this inconvenience, I had to change the arrangement of letters to slow down the typing speed, then the first prototype of a modern keyboard with letters in the first row of QWERTYUIO appeared ... etc. Then, this innovation was picked up by other manufacturers, and soon, this option for the arrangement of letters became the only one.
Ultimately, it is the stereotypes of thinking due to a lack of information that are the source of various prejudices, superstitions, various mystical teachings, when a person tries to logically substantiate his successes and failures, ups and downs, a happy accident and a streak of bad luck in life.
Know this, be realistic, have enough information to have your own point of view!
Stereotypes here and there: in relation to people, deeds, actions, things. Do not push your mind to the borders, give it freedom, give hope to find something that contradicts it, so you only broaden your horizons and understanding of the world in which you live. Learn everything from your own experience! Do not listen to the ravings of the first comer, drive away thoughts that they drive into our heads every day! Be real, we are people, and not virtual programs working according to the scheme (read living on stereotypes)!
It turns out that stereotypes interfere, but in some situations they help. And the question of whether it is necessary to abandon them completely and irrevocably cannot be resolved unambiguously! On the one hand, it is certainly necessary to live bored, focusing only on the outer shell. This is a kind of emptiness of some kind. Due to the catastrophic lack of time, we often forget about the most important thing, about internal individualization, about the spiritual world of a person. It’s easy to write a person in one group or another, seeing his hair or eye color (blue-eyed men, they say, are cold), but it’s much harder to figure it out, understand this person! And it’s much more interesting to see individuality in a person!
It often happens that if someone does not correspond to someone’s stereotypes, he becomes a kind of exile. Why? In my opinion, non-standard is very attractive, although on the other hand, it will be difficult for a non-standard dressed person to work in an office where everyone goes in strict, business suits. Probably, everything should be in moderation.
How to be? How to live? :) To fight stereotypes or vice versa to open up to them - you decide.
This is a topic for further discussion. If you liked the article, you can continue on the topic.
__
Let me remind you that the article was prepared by kokoff . Please send thanks or rays of anger to him.