How Do Humans React with Differences?

How do humans react with differences?

Despite of the fact that the world teaches us to be fair, humans in nature, are biased. No matter how hard we try, whenever we encounter things that are unusual, our instinct automatically reacts, either in a positive or a negative manner. But normally, we tend to see those things in an off-putting way. Each society across the globe developed their way of living in order to survive. Thus, when two people from different cultures meet, both of them will become irrational in terms of how they see the sets of beliefs of the other person. This happens because our brain has an unconscious set of biases. So, these are the three biases which I think affects how we perceive culture.

Humans have various distinctive physical features. This is how the “Look-alike Bias” comes in. Typically in the Philippines, when we see a native person, we stereotype them as ugly, weird and uneducated. There are also instances in which we mock their clothing, accent and even their culture as a whole. This reflects on how humans tend to demean people who do not look like them. This is when discrimination takes over.

Next would be the “Anchoring Bias”, which deals with anchoring on specific information that we tend to neglect other important details. It is like focusing a specific part of a picture instead of looking at it as a whole. This mindset can also be applicable in terms of how we deal with other peoples’ culture. For example, I have seen too many documentaries in which Chinese people eat dogs and even human fetus. The moment I saw those pictures and videos, I inevitably hated them. I see them as cruel creatures who do not know how value life.

The “Beautiful People Bias” certainly completes my list. In fact, this bias tends to be the most evident bias in all cultures. Humans created set of standards that can define what beauty is. Although, “beauty” may also vary depending how a certain culture views it. In the Philippines context, our culture likely favors those good-looking people compared to the average ones. This likely happens anywhere, even in schools and companies. They tend to have more opportunities than others. Because the society see them as individuals who can do better, which is in fact is not true in some cases.

Truly, being biased is inevitable. It affects our lives and how we perceive things including culture. However, knowing the biases that we have can somehow help us in lessening our judgments and prejudices to other culture. Because we must all remember that, even if we are raised having different set of beliefs and standards, we are all humans. And I believe that at the end of the day, we all co-exist.