TITLE __________

ABSTRACT 

In this paper, Prejudice is viewed as being both vital to the continuation of the human race and detrimental to the actualization of the individual and collective. This understanding allows individuals to live in more perfect harmony with themselves and others, and for societies to fulfill their promise of fairness, suggested by the ethos of “justice for all.” Prejudice in this context is understood as: 1) being evolutionarily beneficial, 2) existing solely in the preconscious state of awareness, and 3) delivering a binary choice that stimulates an emotional reaction.

Thesis

Individuals who have the ability to understand their inherent equality to all other human beings have measurably better outcomes across all metrics of self-satisfaction, regardless of differences in race, class, ethnicity, gender, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, ability, neurodivergence, etc.

Introduction

By recontextualizing our understanding of Prejudice away from a moral failing and toward it being an element of evolutionary survival, the conflicts between individuals and groups can be reduced. It is this paper’s contention that this is possible by reducing the conflict between an individual’s belief that they are superior or inferior to others and their inborn sense of fairness.

Body

These are interesting and extreme times. Five years after the murder of George Floyd, President Trump seems to be fixated on erasing the progress all marginalized groups have made in the past six decades. The Supreme Court does not seem to want to be a separate branch of government any longer… the Democratic Party has lost its core constituencies… and higher education is circling the drain, drowning in elitism.

The divisions between groups can all be understood as being caused by the individuals of each group believing they are superior. This default bias creates internal conflicts that are detrimental to both the individual and the collective. A personal belief in one’s inherent superiority rests on the belief that the ”other” is inferior. On a societal level, these beliefs allow the dominant party to justify the unequal distribution of resources. In both cases, these held beliefs cause conflict because of humans’ innate sense of fairness.

The author believes it is possible to minimize these divisions with a new definition of Prejudice that applies to all individuals, regardless of their group identity. This definition can lead to an understanding of self-awareness that can build bridges between individuals and groups. This paper suggests that an individualist approach is necessary to bring about the change. Can a person feel inherently superior to another human being without an understanding of their own inferiority? This paper contends that they cannot. How can a person free themself from believing they are superior or inferior? By understanding they are inherently equal. This understanding acts as an emotional thermostat that can result in an ability to view subjectivity objectively, which this author believes is a prerequisite to progressing to a higher level of self-actualization. Sharp focus on one’s internal dialogue is critical to understanding oneself. Humans are held captive by this dialogue, unless or until they are not. The way to not be a victim of this “noise” is to seek shelter in the “silence” that resides between a stimulus and a thought. Once a person attempts to categorize a stimulus, they try to reach a resolution as quickly as possible, believing that it is in their best interest to do so.

The more attuned a person is to their feelings, the more efficiently and accurately they can categorize and process them. This ability, generally understood as one’s emotional intelligence, relies on the person’s ability to sort through all the possible responses that flood their attention in the form of thoughts couched in words. Words become sentences. Sentences become arguments for and against. Meanwhile, time is a-wasting. A decision gets made based on what one prefers to be true. At least, that is my theory, and I am sticking to it. It has long been understood that it is possible to keep one’s emotional reactions outside of their thoughts. Once thoughts and words get in the way, they can be turned off―it is not easy, and it takes practice, but the answer is waiting in the silence between the stimulus and the reaction. If, as surmised, Prejudice reaches us with a binary choice, this understanding leads the author to believe one ”answer” is the opposite of the other. This understanding suggests that both options allow a path forward―but neither choice can be considered the “correct” one until it has been demonstrated as the best path forward.

Conversationally, there is a big difference between feeling you are “better than” someone else and understanding you are simply “better off.” Being consciously aware that you are inherently equal to all human beings is the key to living in harmony with oneself and others. Understanding that our superiority bias is an error allows us to recognize it. This is why I am making the distinction between our innate need to protect ourselves, which I have defined as “Prejudice,” from the “prejudice” we are taught. Anything that has been taught can be unlearned. More importantly, it also can not be taught in the first place. END