Racism. Sexism. Ethnocentrism. Religious fundamentalism. Ageism. Heightism. Weightism. Fashionism. Classism. Wealthism. Careerism. Sportism. Ismism. I could go on and on, listing the ways in which we as human beings tend to divide ourselves up and treat people in the various division differently. But I'm more interested today in examining this tendency for us to divide ourselves in these various ways.

To begin, I believe that physiologically we're really not that different from each other. We're biologically the same - there's no known case of people from two different groups intermarrying and not being able to have offsping. We have the same complement of body parts - two eyes, one mouth, one heart, one brain. We express the same kinds of emotions and are familiar with many of the same kinds of concepts - indeed, a list of features common to virtually all human societies has been published here. And even where there are concepts that we aren't familiar with, it's usually not too difficult for us to become familiar with these concepts after either experiencing them or having them explained to us.

So - if there's so much similarity amongst humans, why the divisions? Well, I believe also that the brains of human beings are structured in such a way as to discern patterns in the mass of data that the world presents us with. A person will attempt to deduce connections between events; he'll try to determine which behaviours and characteristics are associated with which entities. And he does this all this in order to predict in what way events will turn out. For example, if someone - let's call him Nkala - has repeatedly observed that an entity (such as a female dog that has just given birth) has a particular behaviour (it is overprotective of its young), then he knows that he can avoid a mishap (by not approaching it and getting bitten for his pains).

In the same way, Nkala extends this exercise in deducing connections and associations to human beings. He does this based on his experiences with other human beings and on the information passed on to him by sources that he considers authoritative (who themselves may base this information on their experiences). Typically, Nkala encounters someone who has a definite set of visual and non-visual characteristics and forms an impression of them based on their behaviour towards him during this encounter. If the set of characteristics is particularly distinctive, he may extend the impression that he has of them to other people who share the same set of characteristics. For example, he may encounter in quick succession two people who both wear a bright red hat, red shirt and red trousers and live in a particular section of town. If he notes that they both behave in a hostile manner towards him, he may conclude that it is best to avoid anyone wearing red hats, shirts and trousers who comes from that part of town. (I won't go on at length about this process of categorisation - I have already discussed this in another article 'The Witch Cried Yesterday...'.)

The process of associating people with a particular set of characteristics with a particular behaviour means that Nkala quickly builds up a a library of stereotypes. This is a list of associations between people's characteristics and their behaviour, and it serves as a rough-and-ready guide to interacting with people. For example, the library might have the following stereotypes: a person who has the characteristic of having a high forehead and wears glasses will have the behaviour of a bookish type, and therefore Nkala may decide that sport should not be discussed with him. Or someone who has the characteristic of speaking with a British accent will have the behaviour of not enjoying eating amala and ewedu, so Nkala will serve him with burgers and  coke instead. These stereotypes have varying degrees of accuracy, but they are all based on observations from which deductions (correctly or incorrectly) have been drawn.

So based on Nkala's stereotype library, he'll treat people with warmth, respect, caution or disdain. But if he treats people with a particular set of characteristics in a particular way, this means that he'll also treat people who have his own particular set of characteristics in the way he would treat himself, i.e. with an extra special degree of warmth (unless of course, he's a masochist). Nkala will also believe that if they have certain characteristics that he has, then they will also have other characteristics that he also has (such as shared memories, language, values and understanding of concepts) and this will make it easier for him to communicate with them. And since communication is the foundation of any relationship, it is understandable that he'll feel an extra affinity towards such people.

Conversely, Nkala may conclude that people who do not share certain characteristics with him will not share and understand his memories and values, and therefore he cannot feel very close to them. This lack of closeness may express itself in ways ranging from indifference to outright hostility. In other words, it is not the characteristics of the other person that are the reason that Nkala treats them differently, but it is what those characteristics tell about the values, memories, experiences, customs and mode of expression - in other words, the culture - of the other person.

So really, all the various 'isms' I listed earlier are just variants of culturism - the different treatment of people based on their differing cultures. For example, a black person may use his stereotype library to conclude that people with a white person's skin colour and appearance have certain values and personal traits which are very different from his own. The difference in values and traits may inhibit him from forming a close relationship with the white person. The library may even go on to tell him that these values and traits are dangerous or deserving of contempt, and this will lead him to regard a white person with hostility. In this case, the white person's skin colour is a signature for his culture.

Note that it is not in all cases that someone's physical appearance acts as a signature for their culture; there has to be an observable correlation between a specific appearance and a specific kind of behaviour. For example, it is unlikely that a black person would treat someone with medium brown skin differently from someone with dark brown skin, as there is no information in his stereotype library to tell him how the culture of dark brown people is different from that of medium brown people.

So culturism is a natural outgrowth of a person's usage of his stereotype library, which itself is a natural outgrowth of his tendency to observe and classify. But culturism is not necessarily a bad thing. It is impossible to treat everyone with the same level of warmth; it is only natural to be feel more comfortable with those who you share the same culture with. The key here is how exactly you treat those people who you don't share the same culture with. And this is where culturism splits off in to three strands.

First, there are those culturists who so focused on people from their own culture that they are indifferent to people from a different culture. They have a very poorly developed (and thus largely inaccurate) stereotype library, so they are liable communicate very poorly with people from other cultures and possibly cause offence. However, such offence is usually unintentional, as these culturists simply do not know enough about other cultures to interact with people from these cultures appropriately, and usually they do not care to know. This is usually because there is no compelling reason to do so.

Then there are those culturists who are strongly attached to their culture but who also regard other cultures with varying degrees of hostility, with the hostility being proportional to the differences between their culture and the other culture. This could be because they view the world as a zero-sum game where if someone wins, someone else must be losing - and as such, they view these other cultures as inherently inimical to their own progress. Or it could simply be that their positive feeling about their culture is reinforced by their negative feelings about other cultures.

These culturists have a stereotype library which is specially designed to enhance this view of the world, and as such they are very resistant to updating it. Even when there are observed events that contradict the information in this library, they creatively find a way of explaining the contradiction so that their library is preserved. Of course, any information that does reinforce the views held in the library is used to update it. And they see the world through the prism of this specially designed library. In the end, the person remains in a state of permanent hostility as he is constantly engaged in a fight to preserve his perception of reality.

Finally, there are culturists who feel an affinity to those who share their own culture, but who try to understand people from a different culture so that they can treat them with at least a basic level of respect. Unlike the previous group, they believe that a win-win situation where the progress of one culture need not come at the expense of another. They use their stereotype library, but they take an active interest in updating it with accurate information as frequently as possible.

So when dealing with an individual from this different culture, these culturists use their library like the rough guide that it is rather than an accurate road map. They will have perceptions on the individual based on their library - but they will recognise that these perceptions may not apply to this particular individual. So they will only keep them as a caution while they observe what the individual's actual behaviour is, and they update their stereotype library accordingly with the new observed behaviour. Ultimately, this attitude means that they have more accurate information about these other cultures, and are thus better equipped to deal with reality.

If you enjoyed this article, you might be interested in finding out how much a culturist you are by reading this article -  What's Your EthQ?

Robot  # 1 | 11.05.2008 22:21

Racism. Sexism. Ethnocentrism. Religious fundamentalism. Ageism. Heightism. Weightism. Fashionis...Read the full article.

dele26  # 2 | 12.05.2008 11:23

=Shoko;4295016465>“First, there are those culturists who so focused on people from their own culture that they are indifferent to people from a different culture. They have a very poorly developed (and thus largely inaccurate) stereotype library, so they are liable communicate very poorly with people from other cultures and possibly cause offence” Shoko, You probably need not go too far: The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time - Genesis 6:5 out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. - Matthew 12:34 heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? - Jeremiah 17:9 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts - Mark 7: 21

WayoGuy  # 3 | 12.05.2008 12:47

Stereotype library indeed. As your conclusion indicates, this culturism can be used in a positive sense. Don’t forget to factor ethnic names and voice prints into people’s stereotype libraries. That is why, on NVS, the adoption of a handle with a certain ethnic flavor usually earns the villager some clannish affinity with some groups even though the people have never seen or met each other. Personally, when I contact institutions by telephone and I hear the unmistakable name or voice of a black American or Nigerian female on the other side it has a strange calming effect on me – a phenomenon with which all black men here are very much familiar. I have noticed that most black females also can detect and be calmed by the voice of a black man. It sure is something in our stereotype libraries.

Son of the Delta  # 4 | 12.05.2008 13:34

@ Shoko Are you a culturist? and what is in your cultural bag or stereotypical library:lol:

Shoko Loko Bangoshe  # 5 | 12.05.2008 14:04

Hello, SotD. Of course I'm a culturist - who isn't? Regarding your other question, well you raise an interesting point. Perhaps if everyone disclosed the contents of their stereotype library, it would improve communication. After all, if Nkala thinks that all people from the Nkokolo ethnic group are thieves, and he tells this to Nkolo (who is a member of the Nkokolo group), then it means that Nkolo can interpret some of Nkala's actions and statements better - for example, if he notices Nkala hold on tightly to his bag in his presence, he understands that the stereotype library is at work here, and it's nothing personal. Of course, there is the argument that being upfront about such stereotype information will cause offence - Nkolo is likely to disassociate himself from Nkala on hearing that Nkala thinks that Nkokolo people are thieves. But really, what if Nkala is just relating what he has experienced? He might not think that Nkolo himself is a thief - but the effect of repeated experiences can be so powerful that Nkala might not even realise he is acting in a cautious way towards Nkolo. Anyway, I prefer to err on the side of caution, so I can't reveal what's in my library. If I did, there would be a campaign to expel me from NVS. :lol:

Son of the Delta  # 6 | 14.05.2008 10:17

=Shoko Loko Bangoshe;4295016709>Hello, SotD. Of course I'm a culturist - who isn't? Regarding your other question, well you raise an interesting point. Perhaps if everyone disclosed the contents of their stereotype library, it would improve communication. After all, if Nkala thinks that all people from the Nkokolo ethnic group are thieves, and he tells this to Nkolo (who is a member of the Nkokolo group), then it means that Nkolo can interpret some of Nkala's actions and statements better - for example, if he notices Nkala hold on tightly to his bag in his presence, he understands that the stereotype library is at work here, and it's nothing personal. Of course, there is the argument that being upfront about such stereotype information will cause offence - Nkolo is likely to disassociate himself from Nkala on hearing that Nkala thinks that Nkokolo people are thieves. But really, what if Nkala is just relating what he has experienced? He might not think that Nkolo himself is a thief - but the effect of repeated experiences can be so powerful that Nkala might not even realise he is acting in a cautious way towards Nkolo. Anyway, I prefer to err on the side of caution, so I can't reveal what's in my library. If I did, there would be a campaign to expel me from NVS. :lol: @ Shoko From what you wrote: NKala has a bad experience with an Nkokolo man, he develops a relationship with Nkolo from Nkokolo but from his experience with another Nkokolo man he acts cautiously making Nkolo his companion uncomfortable. If Nkolo is understanding Nkolo will notice it is the stereotype library if not he would act wrongly. In the case of Nkala, Nkolo needs to read his stereotype library on bag clutching people to Nkala if Nkolo refuses to read his book to Nkala while Nkala keeps reading his to Nkolo, Nkolo may ask the Nkokolo people to vote Nkala out of his area in the city they all share but that action will only increase the stereotypical books on Nkala's shelf and the outcomes may be too bad. I do not think you or anybody else should be expelled because everybody is not reading the same books. All the stalls in the market never have the same products.

Shoko Loko Bangoshe  # 7 | 14.05.2008 12:07

=Son of the Delta;4295017562>@ Shoko From what you wrote: Nkala has a bad experience with an Nkokolo man, he develops a relationship with Nkolo from Nkokolo but from his experience with another Nkokolo man he acts cautiously making Nkolo his companion uncomfortable. If Nkolo is understanding Nkolo will notice it is the stereotype library if not he would act wrongly. But SotD, the point I made is that Nkolo may not even be aware that he is clutching his bag tightly. Stereotype libraries sometimes make us act without even being aware that we are acting - they're like conditioned reflexes. Some people may not even accept that they have such a stereotype library, because they don't like to think of themselves as culturists. It takes a high level of introspection to see this - but not everyone wants to look inside themselves, because they may not like what they find. In the case of Nkala, Nkolo needs to read his stereotype library on bag clutching people to Nkala if Nkolo refuses to read his book to Nkala while Nkala keeps reading his to Nkolo, Nkolo may ask the Nkokolo people to vote Nkala out of his area in the city they all share but that action will only increase the stereotypical books on Nkala's shelf and the outcomes may be too bad. I don't know... I still think that it is a difficult matter to be open about one's stereotype library, especially if it is full of negative stereotypes. Can you honestly say that you would be happy if someone told you that based on their experiences, they thought that people from the Niger-Delta were criminals who just loved blowing up pipelines - but he said he was only saying this based on what he read in the news?

Son of the Delta  # 8 | 14.05.2008 12:28

=Shoko Loko Bangoshe;4295017630>But SotD, the point I made is that Nkolo may not even be aware that he is clutching his bag tightly. Stereotype libraries sometimes make us act without even being aware that we are acting - they're like conditioned reflexes. Some people may not even accept that they have such a stereotype library, because they don't like to think of themselves as culturists. It takes a high level of introspection to see this - but not everyone wants to look inside themselves, because they may not like what they find. I don't know... I still think that it is a difficult matter to be open about one's stereotype library, especially if it is full of negative stereotypes. Can you honestly say that you would be happy if someone told you that based on their experiences, they thought that people from the Niger-Delta were criminals who just loved blowing up pipelines - but he said he was only saying this based on what he read in the news? @ Shoko What you said is quite true maybe with the help of others we all can look inwardly. We may not be looking for anything inwards but with the lamp around we may finally see. Criminality is relative. To the family that their ancestral land was seized for the Oil industry or they lost their land to pollution the Pipeline is an artifact of criminality. It draws away the wealth from off the family's land. For the person that calls the Niger Deltans criminals based on what he read in the News. 1. We have to see if the News outlets have not been reporting on other aspects of the Niger Delta because as they say bad news sells. 2. We have to provide the person with an alternative view so that he can make a balanced choice or more informed perspective. 3. If he have been provided with all these information and there are no changes however little then maybe he is intellectualy challenged or he is reading his News upside but he still needs to be provided with a lot of diverse ideas.