Bobby came in the emergency department around ten in the morning. He was a very attractive child with bright eyes and a smile that could melt your heart. “I was trying for 3 (rungs) on the monkey bars and I fell” he chirps. Although he was in obvious pain, Bobby is a very stoic and cooperative patient. The x-ray is positive; Bobby has a severely broken arm. Bobby needs surgery to reset the arm. A post-operative x-ray is required, so I meet Bobby again. He is a little tired, but still smiling and is now asking people to sign his cast. Everyone has fallen in love with this six year old, and people line-up.
A week or so later, I receive a requisition for a portable x-ray in paediatrics. I was very surprised to see that the requisition was for Bobby - “post surgery, right arm”. What happened? Bobby is sitting up in his bed with his arm on a pillow. He has a look of death on his face. I immediately discover, the x-ray is of the stump of his right arm. My heart sank. Inside, Bobby was the same beautiful kid I had met a week ago, but on the outside, Bobby is now DIFFERENT!
A week or so later, I receive a requisition for a portable x-ray in paediatrics. I was very surprised to see that the requisition was for Bobby - “post surgery, right arm”. What happened? Bobby is sitting up in his bed with his arm on a pillow. He has a look of death on his face. I immediately discover, the x-ray is of the stump of his right arm. My heart sank. Inside, Bobby was the same beautiful kid I had met a week ago, but on the outside, Bobby is now DIFFERENT!
When Bobby starts grade one, some of the kids avoid him, some kids stare at him and others are down right mean and aggressive. The aggressive kids are relatively easy to single out and sanction; they are now, ‘Bad’! As a result, the ‘Bad’ kids are even angrier with Bobby, because he got them into trouble. It is explained to Bobby that these kids are just mean and everything else is just fine. “Don’t let it bother you.”
Even a six-year old can connect the dots. Everything is not fine, why do some kids stare and others avoid him. It is because he is Different and humans have a hard time with difference. His classmates are not inherently BAD, and they should not be labelled and sanctioned as such; they like all human beings are simply reacting to ‘difference’. Reaction to difference is biological not moral.
Human Reaction to "Different"
Human beings have a hard time handling differences. Differences in the physiology of others such as colour, size, strength and physical appearance make us uncomfortable. I take issue with certain proponents of political correctness that would lead you to believe that the modern human is capable of denying that differences between humans raise the blood pressure. They infer that discrimination and stereotype are bad words and anyone using such mechanisms is innately ‘bad’. There are oodles of new politically correct social rules written everyday, each accompanied by social sanctions with moral overtones.
Instead of inferring that, discrimination, stereotyping and judgement are bad if not immoral, why not look inside each human for a common origin for this behaviour. Gee, there is one - our brain! Deep in the basement of our modern-rational human brains is a remnant from the past, our survival centre. Every vertebrate has one. This basement dweller is instinctive, reflexive and unconscious.
Almost everyone has heard of the ‘Fight, Flight or Freeze’ response. This is a physiological response triggered in every animal brain when confronted with what could be a life or death situation. When one animal comes across another animal, this ancient part of the brain kicks-in. The blood pressure, pulse, and glucose levels all rise, the stomach turns, reflexes sharpen and you start to sweat; does this experience sound familiar?
Like other animals, humans experience the ‘threat response’ to real and immediate threats of life or death. Unlike other animals, humans also experience the ‘threat response’ and all of its physical symptoms, when presented with abstract threats i.e., “Just the idea of harm…” For example, the first day at a new school. This is not an immediate life or death threat, nevertheless it is an unfamiliar environment filled with unfamiliar people and the vary idea is perceived as threatening - the adrenaline kicks in, and you may find yourself in a very uneasy and uncomfortable biological state. Anxiety is your survival centre working overtime in the face of abstract threats.
It is in the animal’s best interest to resolve a stressful situation as quickly as possible. Thus, animals must be extremely fast at assessing the relative strength or weakness of the other animal i.e., take-in and categorize the size, species, age, posture etc. of its foe. An almost instantaneous judgment is made and the animal either flees, freezes or fights. This immediate ‘sizing-up’ or ‘judging’ of another animal is built-in! It is unconscious! It is a behavioural adaptation for survival!
Humans use the same techniques as animals to assess a potential foe; that is, they must assess the relative strength or weakness of the unfamiliar person instantaneously! Anyone who says they do not discriminate and are not judgemental is lying, at least in the biological sense. Humans react to any new person by immediately sizing the other up. We size-up each other’s strengths and weaknesses all day, everyday – both real and abstract.
Ironically, abstract associations with the threat response is what gets us modern rational humans into trouble. The threat response is just as real, stressful and uncomfortable when confronted by an abstract threat, as it is with a life or death drama. Again, the goal is to relieve the stress as soon as possible. In order to do this, one must perceive, discriminate, classify (stereotype) and judge the ‘different other’ in an instant. Unfortunately, abstract fears are simply that, abstractions of previous learning, based on social rules, rumours, stories, propaganda and rarely on actual personal experience. Please note that stereotypes are simply a way of categorizing, e.g., one common positive stereotype is that firefighters are brave.
Stereotypes are not bad; they are a biological imperative for survival, shortcuts for relieving the threat response to the unfamiliar. The sooner you can react, the sooner you feel at ease and comfortable. Therefore, the idea that unfamiliar people make us uncomfortable makes sense biologically. It follows that, the more unfamiliar the new person is, the more uncomfortable and uneasy we feel.
The trick is to understand ourselves first, acknowledge the fact we have this protective survival centre in our brains that sometimes gets in the way of perfect social relations. Instead of using our modern rational human brain to creatively sanction so-called politically INcorrect behaviour, use it to understand how the survival centre effects us and even protects us in our daily interactions.
I believe that the majority of Politically Incorrect behaviour is a result of ignorance rather than evil! Most human discrimination and judging of others is carried out by the ‘survival’ part of our brain and is unconscious. Imagine meeting your boss’s wife for the first time; she greets you from a wheelchair and is severely disfigured. Unless, you have experience with such a person, uncomfortable you will feel.
So don’t just say, discrimination of differences is bad, and sanction those not behaving in a Political Correct manner. Instead, teach all people that they should get to know about the survival centre in the basement of their brain. It is always there - All Day/Everyday!
Most importantly, this understanding will also help the victims of careless discrimination. There is nothing worse than being attacked for being different and then having well-meaning people deny your experience. For example, a boy explains, “The kids are picking on me at school for being different (pick)” and a teacher replies, “Don’t let it bother you, everybody is different. You are just going to have to learn how to get along with people”. The boy is denied his experience and now it is his problem, i.e. guilt and ignorance all ‘round.
The boy would be better off understanding biology. Understanding that human beings respond to difference with fear and anxiety, and behave irrationally not only acknowledges the boys experience, but also explains why the boy is picked-on.
by xntrk
e-mail: xntrkpublishing@gmail.com
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