karlyle_tomms on Instagram: "READ MORE: Even if you take the time to sit down and have a conversation with me, you still won’t really know me, but you might beg…"
READ MORE: Even if you take the time to sit down and have a conversation with me, you still won’t really know me, but you might begin to discover that I am not who you thought I was. No one can learn the truth if their mind is closed, but on the flip side, no one really fits their stereotype, and none of us is summarized by the opinions of others. There is as much variety of personalities, opinions, and beliefs among those you judge as among those you consider to be your own tribe or group. The truth about human beings is that we can’t really be categorized. Yet, don’t we love to stick labels on each other? Blacks are like this, gays are like that, Hispanics are like this, whites are like that. It doesn’t make any difference what group you belong to, someone—if not a lot of someone’s— is judging you based solely on uninformed opinion. The problem with generalization is that it doesn’t consider the truth. “I saw a five legged frog in the pond, therefore all frogs have five legs. A Jew cheated me. Therefore all Jews are cheats.” It’s erroneous logic, but rather than questioning it and trying to learn the truth, we believe the generalization. We can’t seem to consider that it is impossible for any one group to be the same as any individual within that group. Unfortunately, this tendency sets us up for easy exploitation by those who have a selfish agenda to manipulate us into hating each other so we don’t pay attention to what they are doing. I know it’s difficult for humans to stop generalizing. There may have been a time when it was necessary for survival, but in the modern world, things work differently. What may have been an attribute in the ancient world becomes a detriment in the modern world. Instead of thinking of ourselves as tribes, it’s time to see ourselves as the tribe of humanity. Instead of separating ourselves from each other based on frivolous distinction such as race, gender, sexual orientation or nationality, we have to begin to see ourselves as the unified human race. Because if we don’t, as the old saying goes, “United we stand. Divided we fall.” #humanrace #lovethyneighbor #gettoknowme #freedom #lgbtqia