Human Intolerance

Why do humans have to be so one-sided when it comes to various topics like politics, art, music, love, religion, and etc etc...? Is this just some primal instict embedded deep within our subconcience that "we know the best for us so we know the best for everyone else"

Example: 2 kid in my friends Science class last year got on the teachers nerves the worst I've ever heard of. We were watching An Inconvenient Truth (A movie about the dangers of Global Warming) and the whole movie all they did was talk about how he made up all of these facts and that we are actually "Cooling" down. They even went as far as to say Al Gore was a bad father when he recounted his child being hit by a car. All I could say was "Then why the fuck is all the ice melting?". These same kids constantly badmouth every democrat that ever has been in existence and say that they are right becuase democrats are wrong.

I'm dying to know what the hell makes us do this? Nothing good has ever come from intolerance (the Crusades, the Holocaust, the situation in the Middle East). I wish everyone could just simply respect everyone's choice in life and worry about their own. And for those of you who already do, I admire you.

Intolerance stems from insecurity.
The will to dominate can also arise from insecurity. Those that feel the most unsure of their
position of influence will strive the hardest to gain political or social power. People generally also do
not like to be wrong, or at least to admit to not knowing the answer, so some will go so far as to
fall into fabricated delusions for which they have no good reasoning. If you think different, you're
wrong, and that's the way it goes for them. It also allows them to not feel guilty for displaying
hostility towards you. They view you (or anyone else) as being some varying shade of inferior to
themselves, which is to say that they'll label you as being a little less than a true human being.
That's how it's worked out all along. We don't have wars with people we view as equal human
beings, and we certainly don't enslave them either. So we make up lies to believe in that make our
beliefs and ways of life OK.

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Originally Posted by Invader

Intolerance stems from insecurity.
The will to dominate can also arise from insecurity. Those that feel the most unsure of their
position of influence will strive the hardest to gain political or social power. People generally also do
not like to be wrong, or at least to admit to not knowing the answer, so some will go so far as to
fall into fabricated delusions for which they have no good reasoning. If you think different, you're
wrong, and that's the way it goes for them. It also allows them to not feel guilty for displaying
hostility towards you. They view you (or anyone else) as being some varying shade of inferior to
themselves, which is to say that they'll label you as being a little less than a true human being.
That's how it's worked out all along. We don't have wars with people we view as equal human
beings, and we certainly don't enslave them either. So we make up lies to believe in that make our
beliefs and ways of life OK.

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Another classic, and yet insightful, post from Invader. :goodjob2:

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Originally Posted by markman

Why do humans have to be so one-sided when it comes to various topics like politics, art, music, love, religion, and etc etc...? Is this just some primal instict embedded deep within our subconcience that "we know the best for us so we know the best for everyone else"

Example: 2 kid in my friends Science class last year got on the teachers nerves the worst I've ever heard of. We were watching An Inconvenient Truth (A movie about the dangers of Global Warming) and the whole movie all they did was talk about how he made up all of these facts and that we are actually "Cooling" down. They even went as far as to say Al Gore was a bad father when he recounted his child being hit by a car. All I could say was "Then why the fuck is all the ice melting?". These same kids constantly badmouth every democrat that ever has been in existence and say that they are right becuase democrats are wrong.

I'm dying to know what the hell makes us do this? Nothing good has ever come from intolerance (the Crusades, the Holocaust, the situation in the Middle East). I wish everyone could just simply respect everyone's choice in life and worry about their own. And for those of you who already do, I admire you.

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Perhaps you are one sided too.

The ice in the Antarctic is growing, but people tend not to make such a fuss about that one.

Well there are times when the proper thing to be, is really pissed off at people. For example in politics, when people try to remove the bill of rights. Bans on guns, or restriction on free speech, deserve the utmost anger. Of course, it is proper to first be civil and talk things out in a calm manner, but if the person insists that you have no rights and your freedoms should be restrict it is only normal to get mad.

People should be treated with respect, though some times people support really bad things. Some times you really are right, and you really know they are wrong. At least in things like politics. Art and music and things like that, are just opinions, so there is no reason to get upset by other peoples opinions.

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Originally Posted by markman

Why do humans have to be so one-sided when it comes to various topics like politics, art, music, love, religion, and etc etc...? Is this just some primal instict embedded deep within our subconcience that "we know the best for us so we know the best for everyone else"

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That would be stupid. There are incontrovertible facts though, are there not? If people make political decisions based on incorrect facts, then we all suffer.
There should be no tolerance for willful ignorance.

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Originally Posted by markman

I'm dying to know what the hell makes us do this? Nothing good has ever come from intolerance (the Crusades, the Holocaust, the situation in the Middle East). I wish everyone could just simply respect everyone's choice in life and worry about their own. And for those of you who already do, I admire you.

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What about intolerance of intolerance?

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Originally Posted by Invader

Intolerance stems from insecurity.
The will to dominate can also arise from insecurity. Those that feel the most unsure of their
position of influence will strive the hardest to gain political or social power. People generally also do
not like to be wrong, or at least to admit to not knowing the answer, so some will go so far as to
fall into fabricated delusions for which they have no good reasoning. If you think different, you're
wrong, and that's the way it goes for them. It also allows them to not feel guilty for displaying
hostility towards you.

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I don't think that all intolerance can be traced to this by a long shot. Intolerance of child molesters, spouse beaters, racists, fundamentalists, etc. doesn't belong in that category. I would add those that knowingly spread lies as far as they possibly can into that category as well.

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Originally Posted by Invader

They view you (or anyone else) as being some varying shade of inferior to
themselves, which is to say that they'll label you as being a little less than a true human being.
That's how it's worked out all along. We don't have wars with people we view as equal human
beings, and we certainly don't enslave them either. So we make up lies to believe in that make our
beliefs and ways of life OK.

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Is it possible for people to actually be inferior to one another? Or less human at least? It seems to be that when people don't behave as a human, one has every right to not treat them like a human and that furthermore, you're not doing anyone any favors by treating them like a full human. Being in jail can hardly be considered being treated like a human but there are people that deserve that, no?

First of all, great avatar markman :]

The way I see it, humans (whether they admit it or not) all possess a level of ego. Ego is easy to feed and difficult to destroy. Pride feeds ego, being wrong affects pride negatively and therefore starves ones ego. Personally I think some of those topics are naturally one-sided :/ Maybe things would run smoother if we took the time to use tolerance with those who don't feel the same.

This is a worthy post. I SOOO know what you mean. On YouTube, I PM an atheist, and we debate. It began when I commented on some Atheist video that did nothing but put down Creationists. The guy responded to me, and we went back and forth for awhile. Eventually, he apologized (much to my embarrassment) and we became pals. Since then, I've TRIED to make it a personal policy to respect beliefs, even if I believe they are false. Of course, I'm human, and my emotions have gotten the best of me in the past (PhilosopherStoned, UM, you should know.)

Also, a misconception is that tolerance means you have to like the belief, of believe it, and not debate it. My pal and I debate all the time on friendly terms. Friends fight all the time. Tolerance simply means to tolerate the belief, and not show your negative emotions towards it. I.E I hate the Pizza my sister made, but I tolerate it.

I think tolerance is something everybody should strive for. After all, I think we all know how annoying it is to be consistently bombarded with meaningless insults. It's terrible. It embarrasses(or should embarrass) the attacker, annoys the victim, and gives the attackers beliefs a bad reputation.

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Originally Posted by Noogah

This is a worthy post. I SOOO know what you mean. On YouTube, I PM an atheist, and we debate. It began when I commented on some Atheist video that did nothing but put down Creationists. The guy responded to me, and we went back and forth for awhile. Eventually, he apologized (much to my embarrassment) and we became pals. Since then, I've TRIED to make it a personal policy to respect beliefs, even if I believe they are false. Of course, I'm human, and my emotions have gotten the best of me in the past (PhilosopherStoned, UM, you should know.)

Also, a misconception is that tolerance means you have to like the belief, of believe it, and not debate it. My pal and I debate all the time on friendly terms. Friends fight all the time. Tolerance simply means to tolerate the belief, and not show your negative emotions towards it. I.E I hate the Pizza my sister made, but I tolerate it.

I think tolerance is something everybody should strive for. After all, I think we all know how annoying it is to be consistently bombarded with meaningless insults. It's terrible. It embarrasses(or should embarrass) the attacker, annoys the victim, and gives the attackers belifs a bad reputation.

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Thank you very much.

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Originally Posted by Xei

Perhaps you are one sided too.

The ice in the Antarctic is growing, but people tend not to make such a fuss about that one.

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I was just saying that that is how I felt on the subject. I didn't really say it becuase that would only further agitate the situation. If merely recounting a feeling in a post is one-sided or intolerent, I guess I am , even though I'm not being intolerant of anyone's views or beliefs, only thinking my own.

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Originally Posted by PhilosopherStoned

I don't think that all intolerance can be traced to this by a long shot. Intolerance of child molesters, spouse beaters, racists, fundamentalists, etc. doesn't belong in that category. I would add those that knowingly spread lies as far as they possibly can into that category as well.

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In the midst of child molesters, spouse beaters, racists, etc, is one supposed
to feel secure? Is that kind of situation not one of insecurity? My use of the
word 'insecurity' did imply self delusion, but it extends beyond that, into the
realm of real problems and real danger. I should rephrase "less than human"
as being "less than human or 'evil'" also, just to cover all bases.

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Originally Posted by PhilosopherStoned

Is it possible for people to actually be inferior to one another? Or less human at least? It seems to be that when people don't behave as a human, one has every right to not treat them like a human and that furthermore, you're not doing anyone any favors by treating them like a full human. Being in jail can hardly be considered being treated like a human but there are people that deserve that, no?

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I think we should define humanity, first off. "More or less than human" is
rather vague, and open to many different interpretations. If we instead
used 'barbaric', 'savage', 'malevolant', etc-human beings, and then declared
those forms of humanity as being under the modern-civilized, then sure, we
can say that one who acts like a savage should be treated like a savage.
Those who are in jail are not being treated the way modern civilized human
beings are treated, and are likely there because they did not behave
accordingly. So, yes.

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Originally Posted by Jeff777

Another classic, and yet insightful, post from Invader.

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Thank you Jeff. :)

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Originally Posted by markman

I was just saying that that is how I felt on the subject. I didn't really say it becuase that would only further agitate the situation. If merely recounting a feeling in a post is one-sided or intolerent, I guess I am , even though I'm not being intolerant of anyone's views or beliefs, only thinking my own.

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Okay cool. To be honest I can't really speak with any understanding of what you said, it seems utterly ridiculous to me that in America global warming is inextricably linked to Al Gore.

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Originally Posted by Xei

Okay cool. To be honest I can't really speak with any understanding of what you said, it seems utterly ridiculous to me that in America global warming is inextricably linked to Al Gore.

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I pride myself on my Vocabulary but it appears as if you have outwitted me on the subject. Does this mean Americans blame Al Gore for global warming? or does it mean he is always the first name that comes to mind on it?

I just seemed from your first post that global warming and democrats were basically the same issue.

In some cases, a person's image and political ideology are the same thing. When you challenge something that sacred to somebody, you have a major fight on your hands.

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Originally Posted by markman

Why do humans have to be so one-sided when it comes to various topics like politics, art, music, love, religion, and etc etc...? Is this just some primal instict embedded deep within our subconcience that "we know the best for us so we know the best for everyone else"

Example: 2 kid in my friends Science class last year got on the teachers nerves the worst I've ever heard of. We were watching An Inconvenient Truth (A movie about the dangers of Global Warming) and the whole movie all they did was talk about how he made up all of these facts and that we are actually "Cooling" down. They even went as far as to say Al Gore was a bad father when he recounted his child being hit by a car. All I could say was "Then why the fuck is all the ice melting?". These same kids constantly badmouth every democrat that ever has been in existence and say that they are right becuase democrats are wrong.

I'm dying to know what the hell makes us do this? Nothing good has ever come from intolerance (the Crusades, the Holocaust, the situation in the Middle East). I wish everyone could just simply respect everyone's choice in life and worry about their own. And for those of you who already do, I admire you.

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They are onto something actually. There are two climate change effects occurring. One warms the atmosphere, the other cools it. There is a video about it, just google global cooling. It says while both are happening, the warming force is stronger.

People like to think they are right, so the pick a side and stick to it.

Every thought is for or against something.

We've evolved to fear the unfamiliar, because there was a time when unfamiliar things often meant death.

Was?

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Originally Posted by A Roxxor

Was?

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There was a time when going up to a stranger (say from a neighbouring tribe) and saying the equivalent of "hi" would often result in said stranger trying to break your head open with a rock.

pride? ego?

back in the middle ages it was warmer then than it is now...climate change is a reality and it has most likely being happening on earth for the last 5 billion years or so

I've been starting to get the idea that some intolerance could stem from (any) languages limited ability to communicate the vast and intricate thoughts of the human mind in a proper manner......everybody has a perspective on something, their mind conjures up memories, minute and major for every little piece of information we get, touch, taste, smell , feel, etc., and everybody has different ones, although people of similar backgrounds, cultures, societies, etc. have more similar experiences then those of alien lifestyles....therefore, even though we may be thinking the same basic, core, ideal, value, belief or what not......it gets lost in translation, and sadly , people tend to fear the unknown, although it's starting to look like that may be changing.....maybe there's hope after all

Intolerance is absolutely 100% necessary. We shouldn't tolerate murderers, peadophiles, rapists, people with 2000 year old idiotic beliefs that support genocide, homophobia, slavery and inhibit the progression of humankind. Obviously tolerance is also a good thing, but like most things, we ought to find a comfortable middle ground.

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Originally Posted by imran_p

Intolerance is absolutely 100% necessary. We shouldn't tolerate murderers, peadophiles, rapists, people with 2000 year old idiotic beliefs that inhibit the progression of humankind or any number of other things. Obviously tolerance is also a good thing, but like most things, we ought to find a comfortable middle ground.

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Intolerance with good judgement.

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Originally Posted by markman

Why do humans have to be so one-sided when it comes to various topics like politics, art, music, love, religion, and etc etc...? Is this just some primal instict embedded deep within our subconcience that "we know the best for us so we know the best for everyone else"

Example: 2 kid in my friends Science class last year got on the teachers nerves the worst I've ever heard of. We were watching An Inconvenient Truth (A movie about the dangers of Global Warming) and the whole movie all they did was talk about how he made up all of these facts and that we are actually "Cooling" down. They even went as far as to say Al Gore was a bad father when he recounted his child being hit by a car. All I could say was "Then why the fuck is all the ice melting?". These same kids constantly badmouth every democrat that ever has been in existence and say that they are right becuase democrats are wrong.

I'm dying to know what the hell makes us do this? Nothing good has ever come from intolerance (the Crusades, the Holocaust, the situation in the Middle East). I wish everyone could just simply respect everyone's choice in life and worry about their own. And for those of you who already do, I admire you.

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I don't see that as intolerance. I see it as voicing a certain opinion. Of course its ridiculous to make comments about Al Gore's father-ship. It is a straw man, a mischaracterization of the argument. You are in high school, rational debate concerning politics is almost an impossibility at that age.

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Originally Posted by Laughing Man

You are in high school, rational debate concerning politics is almost an impossibility at that age.

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I don't seem to have many problems :D

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Originally Posted by BLUELINE976

I don't seem to have many problems :D

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Because you actually read great political theorists / historians / economists. You an anomaly. Most high school kids are so ingrained with idealistic emotionalism they fail to use reason. Being young isn't a bad thing though, in fact in many cases it is good because there is always a mentality to question the status quo but in questioning it don't replace it with idiocy.

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Originally Posted by Laughing Man

Because you actually read great political theorists / historians / economists. You an anomaly. Most high school kids are so ingrained with idealistic emotionalism they fail to use reason. Being young isn't a bad thing though, in fact in many cases it is good because there is always a mentality to question the status quo but in questioning it don't replace it with idiocy.

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You should've seen me around election time. While the Obama shirts were flyin', my brain was cryin'. (Honestly, it was terrible to see the results of the "mock election" we had. 88% in favor of Obama...And they only put McCain and Obama on there.)

But let's not derail the thread.

well part of what makes us human is that we are all different. We have different emotional and physical characteristics. I guess no one is in the position to choose which 1 is better then the other, but it is okay for us to have opinions about it and express it openly. A little bit of both tolerance and intolerance is good.