A Hierarchy of Differences
Someone I admire very much noted that when he meets someone, he categorizes their differences from him -“subconsciously,” without willing to do so- hierarchically:
- Sex
- Age
- Socioeconomic status
- Nationality
- Race
He writes that “if meeting a new person [he is] more conscious of the fact that she is a female than the fact that she is from [another country,” to take an example. I suspect that we all so-categorize, although I should emphasize that we might do so without judgment or prejudice (to any substantive degree); and we might most easily detect how we do so in our automatically-adopted postures, diction, tone, and attitudes. Around the elderly, we perhaps curse less; around the opposite sex, we perhaps are more nervous. Around the very poor, perhaps we’d not mention our blogs or iPhones.
I don’t wish to ask the rather political question of whether we consider new individuals categorically or not, as I consider it a probable fact of human nature that where we are aware of categories we use them to sort experiences, without malice. The struggle against bad categorical thought is as much about choosing categories we feel are just and useful as about erasing categories entirely. Of course, it is always best to consider individuals as individuals; and we do so once we know someone well.
Rather, my question is: What is your hierarchy? Is sex commonly first, for example, or is socioeconomic status more notable? Or does your hierarchy change contextually?
