LABELS: Reflections on Social Stereotyping IMAGE: A small blue planet with coruscating rays surrounded by a lettrist poem about stereotypes. Hey, that dude 'z a nerd. Well, that person 'z flaky. I have my doubts about 'er. Those guys aren't mature. They ain't got their acts together. Ya can't trust 'em, I dink. How useful are such familiar labels? Who do they actually serve? Do labels guide us toward better decisions or merely create mental swerves? Wan-Sze: How would you label this? Will: Isn't the purpose of this art to go beyond labels? Kasim: Come on! Don't be so naive. Labels are actually fascinating. They're a shorthand for in-depth thinking. To some degree, they are necessary. They reduce our cognitive load, giving us more space to look for things unexpected. Will: Yet they often blind us! Are we not often slaves to our own labels? Wan-Sze: Well, I would label this poem and image 'trash.' Nadia: (nodding) Yeah. Let's move on . . . ===================================================================================== from How Weird: Out of the Box of Expectations by T Newfields Summary: Some thoughts about typecasts, labels, and misconceptions Keywords: stereotypes, generalizations, cliches, cognitive markers, markedness Author: T Newfields [Nitta Hirou / Huáng Yuèwǔ] (b. 1955 - ?) Begun: 1996 in Shizuoka, Japan ☆ Finished: 2023 inYokohama, Japan Creative Commons License: Attribution. {{CC-BY-4.0}} Granted < LAST https://www.tnewfields.info/HowWeird/rituals.htm TOC https://www.tnewfields.info/HowWeird/index.html NEXT > https://www.tnewfields.info/HowWeird/snake.htm