Brain Bigotry – Common Questions, 5

Can a person become bigoted about anything?

Well, think about it. Bigotry tends to involve a “belief,” that can turn into a strong “bias,” that can form the basis for behaviors that include bullying and bigotry behaviors. Many of these beliefs are thought to be absorbed by the age of five or seven, based on what you heard people say about you and to you—and what you heard and saw exhibited toward anyone who was different from you and members of your family system. If you grow up believing you are “superior to others because (you fill in the blank _____ ) and/or if you are also fearful of the unknown and have self-esteem or self-worth issues (either abysmally low or highly inflated), that’s a set-up for needing to find others “less than” in order to temporarily feel better about yourself. If you grew up believing that if you obtain an advanced education degree you are “much more intelligent and worth more” than those who do not, the tendency will be to look down on the less-well educated. My brain’s opinion is that this could apply to almost any area in life—perhaps with the exception of genuine spirituality—the spirit with which you live life.

So what about the rhetoric about males and females being equally valuable simply because they exist as members of the same species? (more to come)