Qinwei - Week 5: Bro you’re such a nerd
“Don’t talk to her she’s weird asf”
Let’s talk about something that EVERYBODY has 100% used before in our common day-to-day conversations.
Labels.
A few days ago, I was telling my brother that he needed to lock in since his grades are not very good and it could reflect how he does in high school in the future. His response was, “But I don’t want to be a nerd like you!” We as humans have such an odd tendency to label others, and a lot of times we do it to separate the good and the bad, ignoring the enormous grey area. I bet that you guys have labeled a person or something as good or bad immediately from the first impression. Maybe one person gave you a weird look and from then on you labeled them as someone unapproachable.
Why do we tend to label things so much? According to this article, we tend to label other people because we like to "categorize" them so other people “know how to behave” around them. I feel that this is very true. Whenever I tell my friend about someone they don’t know, I always add in a little bit of what kind of person they are to let my friends know more about them. I say things like “he’s really smart” or “she’s really pretty”. Or it could be to describe their physical appearance like “she’s Chinese” or saying that “oh he’s a junior”. These are all labels that people commonly use to associate with one another.
Although these labels could be useful when trying to describe a person, ultimately it could be a bad thing. For example, there are some really sad circumstances when kids are raised and being called “lazy” or “stupid”, and these labels can affect children at a very young age, and they could end up internalizing those labels. But there are also positives, like I remember in elementary school everybody had to take a really long test and whoever got a high score was deemed “gifted”, and probably got a huge ego boost because of that.
Overall, I think labels have the ability to take away someone’s individuality. If a person gets labeled as something, it will probably stick. There is this bias called the confirmation bias where if someone is already labeled a certain way, you find evidence to support that preexisting label. Labels can also be detrimental in the way that you treat someone. Just by a single label, you could assume someone's circumstances and judge them solely based on the label.
Although labels could help to get to understand someone’s basic personality before meeting them, it’s better to treat it with a grain of salt because remember: no one can be described with a single adjective because we are all very complicated individuals with our own lives and experiences!
Qinwei, I think that you have accurately touched upon an important aspect of humanity in that we tend to make snap judgments of one another for prolonged periods of time. I will admit that these assumptions can be useful for a short-term situation. For example, it is important to quickly ascertain if a certain situation could be dangerous or uncomfortable before becoming entangled with such people.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the mistake you point out is important to recognize, and that is the mistake of thinking that our short-term judgments are able to consider the sum of a person’s entire existence. I think that we give ourselves too much credit, thinking that we can accurately ascertain who a person is in a couple of seconds when they have spent decades building up their personality.
There is a phrase echoed in many mythologies: labels, or names, have power. Thank you for pointing out the power names have in our society, and bringing it to our attention. Let us all endeavor to see a person past their labels.
Qinwei, I think your article was very thorough and I totally agree with what you are saying. I think that when someone tries to label another person they would always try to justify what they think and search for evidence that their original assumption was right. It often makes your relationship even worse because you aren’t fully considering their whole character. This would impair your judgment due to the perceived bias that you have. I feel like people might not recognize it, but I think everyone judges and labels subconsciously. It's just important to take control of that and ground yourself. However, I think that all humans should have a certain amount of judgment of other people. My author from the anti-prejudice novel said that racism now comes in different forms such as microaggressions which are very indirect. As a person it would be their job to judge someone based on their actions on you. Often, it is important to evaluate the person’s whole character and personality and try to make an opinion off of that. These are ultimately survival instincts designed to get you out of terrible situations from split second decisions. So, it is absolutely essential to people and other beings, however, it just needs to be controlled by your mind. Your mind should not be controlled by labels. But overall, thank you so much for providing me with such an interesting read today! I really appreciate that knowledge and I really learned a lot today!
ReplyDeleteHey, Qinwei. Your blog post this time around is just, as my younger self would call it, a “truth nuke”. I honestly cannot believe how this widespread problem of labeling has never really crossed my mind in school, so thank you so much for shedding a very needed light on the subject. We as people really need to rethink our snap judgements and microsecond-based thought processes. Just the fact that we have a natural tendency to do so does not make it okay or any less harmful. Also, labels supersede all other aspects of a person; if everyone called me a nerd or chump then I would not only be seen as just that and nothing more, but also, it would genuinely hurt me. As someone who's heard and been called labels, like most of us, I am genuinely displeased by its widespread use. I would really appreciate it if the age old adage of “think before you speak” was actually followed… by anyone. Even some teachers genuinely need to hear it, because one of my friends in a grade above was recently referred to as broke and that label just stuck with him for an hour, despite him not actually being broke. There is definitely a change needed, and your understanding of the issue is genuinely touching to see.
ReplyDeleteHi, Qinwei! It feels great to read a blog from you this week. I agree with you that people should not label others with either good or bad meanings. I personally hate when people label others. I get the “You are so tall!” response a lot when I just met someone new (my bad posture when sitting could be a reason for the shock); while the comment might be seen as a compliment for me, it actually only made me feel that it is the only impression that they had about me. It is a frustrating situation; the frustration originates from the desire to be viewed as complicated human beings that everyone usually has. Despite that desire, people still would label others as one or two simple adjectives. It is clear that labeling others is a degradation of their individual personality, but our society is still divided around these labels. People’s tendency to label others for memory made it hard to remove that label. Also NEVER internalize any labels that anyone gives, it is super harmful, so tell your brother that you appreciate his compliment! Thanks for writing this captivating blog around labels and I hope to read more blogs from you next time!
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