Stage One: some people are intrinsically inferior to others and it's perfectly OK to exploit the inferior
Stage Two: there are no differences. Race and gender are oppressive social constructs. "Woke"
Stage Three: there are differences, they are real, but they don't represent inferiority and superiority
The big problem with stage two is that it's false. And it therefore has potential to collapse under the weight of its own falsehood back to Stage One. Women are not men, but trans women are. There is an element of continuum to race but there are distinct races, they are different, and not just culturally.
Vietnamese people coming into my room wrinkle their noses at the catbox smell yet I can stand right over it and not smell a thing. This is consistent.
I'd slip in a Stage 2.5, which is where we seem to be right now:
The differences between people based on their race, gender, etc form unbreachable chasms that define the people in question.
Black people think black thoughts, women/men think woman/man thoughts, (hence if you think you're a man/woman you are a man/woman) and any attempt to honestly discuss these issues is racism, transphobia, etc.
I have a hard time distinguishing your 2.5 from my 2.
But thanks again for creating a forum where we can discuss these things without being called various kinds of bigots. If I post even watered-down repeats of what I've posted here on social media I'll at least be suspended; on Medium I will be banned (again). The repression of open discussion by what so many are (completely erroneously) calling "the left" is even more disheartening than the cretins who invaded the Capitol.
"I have a hard time distinguishing your 2.5 from my 2."
Hmm, maybe I misunderstood. You mentioned the belief for some corners that there *are* no differences and everything is socially constructed. I'm pointing to a belief that there not only *are* differences, but that they're fundamental. And that it's impossible to bridge the gap between them with empathy or our common humanity.
And you're welcome, though I should be thanking you. It's the input from you all that makes this place such a haven of honest, meaningful conversation. And guess what?! Nobody has been "traumatised" by encountering a difference of opinion or a fact that they didn't know before! Who'da thunk?!
"Vietnamese people coming into my room wrinkle their noses at the catbox smell yet I can stand right over it and not smell a thing. This is consistent."
I can confirm. My Thai wife can smell things that I cannot (no, not covid). When we first wed, her food handling was shocking. She grew up poor without refrigeration. In our kitchen: Me, "Is this OK?" She sniffs, either "Yes, you can eat it" or "No, throw that away." Long before it smells so bad that I don't need to ask.
Refrigerators are for drinks. you'll never see fish in a fridge. Because it's with fish that the preoccupation with freshness reaches its peak.
In preparing a big meal, it's only after everything else is steaming and ready to serve that the fish is killed and cooked; it lives in a pan of water up to the very last second.
Anyway. bigot (stage one above) would say, "see? they're more like dogs."
A Woke would scream "racism! There are no races! There are not differences!"
I say that there has been selection pressure because of the primacy of freshness (the word is everywhere here, tươi). It's neither inferiority nor superiority, it just is.
This leads to another third rail issue. Nature vs. nurture of race vs. culture. I can claim no expertise, but I think there is some ratio with variability among individuals. Related of course to the innate vs. culture issues of masculine and feminine traits. Not completely binary but unfortunately not well enough understood.
I am well-traveled throughout Asia, and I have noticed things "Asian" in countries with cultural differences from each other which are also observable. I have no explanation or theory.
I know what you're talking about but that isn't it. Dogs already have 10⁵ the olfactory sensitivity that humans do but when it comes to the odors that signify another dog's health (why they sniff butts) it's ten time more sensitive.
I worked at Microsoft before they introduced American hygiene expectations to new employee orientation for workers from a certain country heavily represented in the workforce, You could walk down an empty hallway and the BO would make your eyes water.
I know four (!) people who lived in that country and all four left for the same reason: the smell of sewage everywhere. A sensitive nose ,must be a curse there.
But no. Asians have a sharper olfactory sense across the board.
We're only in stage one and two of bigotry
Stage One: some people are intrinsically inferior to others and it's perfectly OK to exploit the inferior
Stage Two: there are no differences. Race and gender are oppressive social constructs. "Woke"
Stage Three: there are differences, they are real, but they don't represent inferiority and superiority
The big problem with stage two is that it's false. And it therefore has potential to collapse under the weight of its own falsehood back to Stage One. Women are not men, but trans women are. There is an element of continuum to race but there are distinct races, they are different, and not just culturally.
Vietnamese people coming into my room wrinkle their noses at the catbox smell yet I can stand right over it and not smell a thing. This is consistent.
I'd slip in a Stage 2.5, which is where we seem to be right now:
The differences between people based on their race, gender, etc form unbreachable chasms that define the people in question.
Black people think black thoughts, women/men think woman/man thoughts, (hence if you think you're a man/woman you are a man/woman) and any attempt to honestly discuss these issues is racism, transphobia, etc.
I have a hard time distinguishing your 2.5 from my 2.
But thanks again for creating a forum where we can discuss these things without being called various kinds of bigots. If I post even watered-down repeats of what I've posted here on social media I'll at least be suspended; on Medium I will be banned (again). The repression of open discussion by what so many are (completely erroneously) calling "the left" is even more disheartening than the cretins who invaded the Capitol.
"I have a hard time distinguishing your 2.5 from my 2."
Hmm, maybe I misunderstood. You mentioned the belief for some corners that there *are* no differences and everything is socially constructed. I'm pointing to a belief that there not only *are* differences, but that they're fundamental. And that it's impossible to bridge the gap between them with empathy or our common humanity.
And you're welcome, though I should be thanking you. It's the input from you all that makes this place such a haven of honest, meaningful conversation. And guess what?! Nobody has been "traumatised" by encountering a difference of opinion or a fact that they didn't know before! Who'da thunk?!
"Vietnamese people coming into my room wrinkle their noses at the catbox smell yet I can stand right over it and not smell a thing. This is consistent."
What does this mean? I'm sorry- I don't get it.
That they have a sharper sense of smell.
That Asians, possibly selected by millennia of fetish around food freshness, have a better olfactory sense than Caucasians.
I can confirm. My Thai wife can smell things that I cannot (no, not covid). When we first wed, her food handling was shocking. She grew up poor without refrigeration. In our kitchen: Me, "Is this OK?" She sniffs, either "Yes, you can eat it" or "No, throw that away." Long before it smells so bad that I don't need to ask.
Refrigerators are for drinks. you'll never see fish in a fridge. Because it's with fish that the preoccupation with freshness reaches its peak.
In preparing a big meal, it's only after everything else is steaming and ready to serve that the fish is killed and cooked; it lives in a pan of water up to the very last second.
Anyway. bigot (stage one above) would say, "see? they're more like dogs."
A Woke would scream "racism! There are no races! There are not differences!"
I say that there has been selection pressure because of the primacy of freshness (the word is everywhere here, tươi). It's neither inferiority nor superiority, it just is.
I shrug.
Thank you for explaining that more.
This leads to another third rail issue. Nature vs. nurture of race vs. culture. I can claim no expertise, but I think there is some ratio with variability among individuals. Related of course to the innate vs. culture issues of masculine and feminine traits. Not completely binary but unfortunately not well enough understood.
I am well-traveled throughout Asia, and I have noticed things "Asian" in countries with cultural differences from each other which are also observable. I have no explanation or theory.
Wow - I’ve never heard about that!
I know what you're talking about but that isn't it. Dogs already have 10⁵ the olfactory sensitivity that humans do but when it comes to the odors that signify another dog's health (why they sniff butts) it's ten time more sensitive.
I worked at Microsoft before they introduced American hygiene expectations to new employee orientation for workers from a certain country heavily represented in the workforce, You could walk down an empty hallway and the BO would make your eyes water.
I know four (!) people who lived in that country and all four left for the same reason: the smell of sewage everywhere. A sensitive nose ,must be a curse there.
But no. Asians have a sharper olfactory sense across the board.