I just found this great blog post about the “Monkeysphere.” In his “Pointless Waste of Time” blog, David Wong talks about our incapacity to think of other humans beyond our direct sphere of 150 people. Based on Darwinian biology, humans are incapable of thinking of other people as individuals beyond the 150 or so people we know directly. That’s how we can say things like, “Man, I really hate that group of people (insert derogatory term of your choice).”
Basically, the post is a call to stop thinking of people in terms of stereotypes, and try to bring our thinking of people beyond our spheres of influence as individuals. I’m sure there are plenty of people who think I’m a jerk, but I’ve caught myself ranting about some faceless driver on the highway in a way that I would never even consider if I was sitting across a table from them.
Here’s the link:
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