tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post4919028774389644012..comments2024-03-28T18:32:05.933-04:00Comments on bensozia: In Flint, the Psychology of DisasterJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-34779315095918767232017-01-27T16:07:37.015-05:002017-01-27T16:07:37.015-05:00Or consider "micro-aggressions." I can c...<i>Or consider "micro-aggressions." I can certainly believe that a lifetime of small snubs, often unintentional, can add up to a serious problem. But on the other hand focusing on those slights is exactly what psychologists tell their patients not to do; as I always say, the world is full of thousands of messages, so why focus on the negative ones when there are plenty of positive ones out there you could dwell on instead?</i><br /><br />The problem here is that people don't stop abusing others unless enough people stand up against the abuse. It's all well and good for the individual to focus on the positive instead of the negative, but it doesn't change society. Accepting injustice may put you under less psychological strain if you can't escape from such treatment, but it doesn't cure the injustice itself and simply ensures more people down the line will have to face the exact same injustice.<br /><br />The point of discussing micro-aggressions is to help recognize that certain behaviors are the results not of obvious singular events, but of countless smaller overlooked ones. It's a tool for understanding that some human reactions do not, in fact, come out of nowhere, and that there are warning signs for pretty much everything.<br /><br />Now, that's often of limited use to the individual. If a man comes home from work every night and beats his wife, it's not much comfort to her to explain that his violence is the product of a lifetime of being told he isn't good enough, and the micro-aggressions of his coworkers in his competitive job are what sends him over the edge he constantly teeters on.<br /><br />But on the flipside, just expecting the man to "get over" a lifetime of micro-aggressions isn't remotely helpful either. He doesn't need to just toughen up and accept the abuses of his coworkers so he can stop beating his wife, he needs to remove himself from the toxic environment of his job so he can face his demons and heal.<br /><br />Now ideally, the man's coworkers would be held accountable and would be made to stop their abuses, however minor they might seem, and instead support him. But that's never going to happen if they can't even conceive of the effect their actions are having - if they just dismiss the notion entirely, because their behaviors are so "minor" that they can't imagine them causing problems.<br /><br />Hence the imporatance of focusing on and talking about micro-aggressions. The man's coworkers can't understand the need to change their behavior until they are made to understand that they are causing harm. And the culture of expecting the individual to simply "accept" micro-aggression and to "focus on positive things instead" only serves to give everyone besides the individual reason not to care, and the excuse to not make any effort to change their behavior.<br /><br />Remember, when women first started talking about gender equality, men found it obnoxious in exactly the same way. Why focus on the negative aspects of being a woman? Focus on the positive! You'll be much happier! Stop badgering me to let you vote, and enjoy the new necklace I just bought you! Just leave me alone and stop asking me to change my behavior, even if only in minor ways! You'll just make yourself miserable getting hung up on every little thing!<br /><br />The first step toward curing injustice is talking about injustice. People have to be made to understand that something is wrong before they are willing to do anything to change it.<br /><br />That's what going on now with micro-aggressions. People are talking for the first time about how our society is full of shitty little behaviors, and we need to stop constantly being shitty to each other, even in minor ways. Only once people accept this fact and embrace it will we manage to change our behavior.G. Verlorennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-13542903675848507322017-01-27T16:07:05.718-05:002017-01-27T16:07:05.718-05:00"Sociology and economics tell us that people ...<i>"Sociology and economics tell us that people who grow up in poor neighborhoods are vastly more likely to end up poor, and we talk about this to agitate for a political solution. But on a personal level, the people who do make it out of bad neighborhoods are mostly the ones who believe, despite the evidence, that they can achieve anything they put their minds to."</i><br /><br />Yet there are plenty of individuals from poor neighborhoods who put their minds to exactly that and still never get anywhere regardless. A positive attitude is often necessary, but it alone isn't sufficient.<br /><br />You almost always also need a lucky break - someone else recognizing your potential and taking a chance on you. You need some person whom you've never met sitting in an office looking at 100 essentially identical applications for a position that has only 10 openings to just so happen to choose yours over others.<br /><br />People will tell you that the key is to "Stand Out", but that's no guarantee. The 99 other applicants were told exactly that as well, and collectively you all managed to stand out compared to the initial 1,000 applicants you were pared down from. You can be the top 10% of your group, and yet you still only have a 10% chance of being accepted. And if acceptance means the difference between having your tuition paid or not, that means the difference between your going to college or not is effectively random.G. Verlorennoreply@blogger.com