An uncomfortable position in concept

Today we are going to the markets for breakfast and then after our daughter's nap, to the beach for the biblical 'Last swim' with Hive account@galenkp. Tomorrow, they will be off on their journey back to Australia. Hive account@galenkp was writing that they are planning to come back 2020 and hopefully, they will be able to stay a little bit longer than a week.

Maybe, if we are lucky, we might be able to travel a little with them through Scandinavia and spend a few days exploring the region. It is much too hard at the moment and being away from home for more than a night is very difficult.

Our daughter Hive account@smallsteps is likely going to have some issues after they go as it is impossible to really explain to a 2 year old where her Uncle and Aunty are going. The concept of overseas and different countries just don't exist, which in itself is an interesting case.

There have been, are and will be so many battles fought over imaginary lines in the sand, concepts of mind, barriers put up that do not actually exist. It is these borders that are the harmful social constructs as they become focal points to keep people separated. This isn't of course just across land areas but also cultural groups. The sad thing is that they are inherent in the system and taught from a young age.

Talking with my brother yesterday about Hive account@smallsteps starting daycare reminded me that it was as my mother walked me through the playground to the front door on the first day, that I found out, I was black. Now, I am not really black considering I am half Indian and half European background but, for all intents and purposes, to those little four year olds, I was the darkest person they have ever seen. They definitely knew the 'right words' to express their knowledge.

The only way for them to have learned this is to have parents who have taught them and, since it seemed all knew the vocabulary, the parental lessons were commonplace. At that age, we are mirrors of our parents and while I didn't know I was coloured, others definitely knew it.

The thing is that no matter who I have met and what they have said, all have prejudices of various types and for various reasons. It may not be parental, it could be a bad experience with one member of a certain group and fro then on, that group gets labelled or, it could be a good experience.

People forget that we all have our dislikes and our preferences which guides the decisions we make. without knowing what we are actually basing our choices on, we go through the world and choose paths that are provided us through habitual likes and dislikes. This is why the algorithms of Social media can lead us into massive echo chambers of confirmation bias.

How to combat this? I don't really know but with our daughter, we are trying to expose her to all types of thinking and discuss things as fully as we can. It is uncomfortable at times as I recognise prejudices in myself as I consider how to present things to her.

This type of discomfort is good, it is not physical although there are likely physical indications. It is psychological discomfort based on learned concepts that in all likelihood, are not actually our own but rather, programmed through the words and prejudices of others without ever investing into finding out for ourselves.

It is a position made via proxy and accepted as our own and, we act upon them every day.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]