Identity: Crisis
It is innately human to separate, sift, and categorize just about everything. In this way we can, together, form a consensus on what is dangerous, enjoyable, artistic, and otherwise. And over time these views can change as the composition of our population changes, just take a look at the subjects of paintings over the years.
There are scientific markers that can be used to divide things but most are subsets of larger categories. Red, blue, orange, etc. are all colors which fall into the “colored” bucket whereas items of gray, black, and white would remain in the “monochrome” category. Divisions can be infinitely defined the more you focus in.
How many animals are there? Brown animals? Brown birds? Brown birds indigenous to South America? South American brown birds that feed nocturnally? One. The guácharo.
You can subdivide everything until you’ve sifted down to the molecular level if you wanted to. There very well may only have ever been one guácharo to ever have a white spot exactly 5mm on the right side of its beak, for instance.
Categorizing things based on appearances, size, shape, smell, toxicity, etc. has been part of our survival. Its essential to help others identify what’s useful and what’s harmful to us. Subdividing too far, however, can have deleterious effects. This is particularly the case when the usefulness of making these distinctions cannot be quantified.
Defining Ourselves
Functional classification provides utility without prejudice. This would include non-identifying data driving demographic or census collection, and even that becomes less useful when diving in too closely. Naturally, you want to identify your target audience when selling but you don’t want to narrow your scope down to that one bird in Brazil.
As we align ourselves in society by defining who we are, we fall into our own categories. There are categories that we believe we occupy (smart, handsome, gregarious, and modest) and those that others place us in (pompous, untenable, and unkempt). Some of us care what others think, while others don’t at all. And none of us should. Its not unusual to find people who learn that others think differently of them don’t hold their opinions in high esteem, “What do they know?”, while others may do differently, “What do I know?”.
Dividing Ourselves
Curiously, it occurs to me that we don’t know anything. Everything is subjective unless it falls into a very finite functional space which means the categories have to serve a valuable purpose. Whether you are a physically gorgeous specimen or not may only prove valuable in instances where survival depends on your symmetrical face, for instance. Whereas if you are identified as a convicted sex offender, that information is valuable to those around you.
Because the truth is there are bad “hombres” of every color, creed, ethnicity, size, gender, and occupy every role, job, position, and live in every town, state, country, and in every financial category.
Much of what we use to divide ourselves is based on faith, and not fact. Faith in the majority of others in consensus. And in particular, a consensus that we find ourselves to be a member of. This leads to religious, political, class, and race partitions. Further divisions without value leads to faith based judgement either marked by being outside of these groups or purely out of fear and ignorance.
Where facts are missing faith can, and often does, fills gaps in minds of those who dislike or are afraid of the unknown. And like fixing a broken table leg with wood glue, instead of a new leg, the overall structure is weaker for it.
Our Focus
Training our eyes to see every detail is training ourselves to scrutinize each other until all we see are exceptions. Obviously this is divisive and we can all see it if we look hard enough.
I may be the only: Caucasian American, over 6 feet tall, male patterned baldness, listens to black metal and classical music back to back, prefers Vince Carter to Michael Jordan, bites his fingernails, left foot is shorter than right, with mixed race children, and just wrote this article — in the world. But I prefer to zoom out and focus on what I really am; I am human.
Being a part of a minority group doesn’t make people illegitimate because they’re not part of your “circle”, your circle is illegitimate because it is drawn too small. Your focus is too narrow. You are looking for placebic differences to either substantiate your faith or form one moving you further from the truth.
Categorizing people based on our own beliefs, which others will disagree with, is not consensus. Focusing on what makes us different when it does no good but only supports pre-existing belief models is divisive. And reducing ourselves and others to a pile of attributes does the worst work of all, it obfuscates what we all share in common. Humanity.
Broaden your circle. Speak with someone new; someone who appears different. You may be surprised just how different we are not.
