There are 6 choices, 9 votes for Ievianty's debate

Why is anything that isn't considered normal flawed upon?

In America culture, being different seems to be flawed upon. It seems like if you're not say for example, listening to the same music as others, they take it as a problem. I notice this mostly in teen and Internet culture. How come it's expected that millions of people will act the same? How come after the long way we came from the past (like racism [for the most part]) that not being "normal" is still a bad thing? "Different = bad" seems to be quite common. What's wrong with wanting to be yourself if you don't harm others? How is it hurting others that you don't listen to the same music as them? It's one thing to want to find others like you, it's another thing to put others down just for not being exactly like yourself. I thought America was the land of the free. Since when did part of that freedom mean "insult anyone who isn't like me?"
  • Because it is not understood
    When something falls out of the ordinary, our natural instinct is to notice it. It is a built-in mechanism based on survival. A million years you had to be keen in detecting out of the ordinary movements or out of the ordinary patterns around you so that you wouldn't be some predator's meal. That keen ability was a godsend, but it was also a plague because now that we do not have to worry about someone hunting us down we use it to discriminate others and set them up in our minds as a predator. Hence, in America we still have whites who fear blacks.

    The remedy is knowledge. We have knowledge today that humans are equal regardless of skin color. Because of that knowledge and a few fearless warriors like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., today we have an America that is transforming and accepting that truth. So Oprah, Muhammed Ali, Barak Obama, and many others today can grow unimpeded by racist ignorance.

    So the importance is to make an attempt to understand why things are not normal and not place a value judgement on it.
    44%  Voted for by Brew Kline, Weydon, Ievianty, Mairi-Alannah.
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  • ?
    I generally do not encounter this attitude so much for things like music. Though I certainly do laugh at musical styles that I think are strange, you are all quite welcome to enjoy them anyway.

    Popozao,
    Weydon
    Voted for by Weydon.
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  • people suck
    People have this incredible need to feel good about themselves and to find ways to validate why they are how they are. By putting other people down it makes them feel better and more superior. Crappy system but thats why people suck.
    Voted for by Stepherz804.
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  • Well
    You can always come to Aus, if America is so crap.

    What have you been listening to anyway?
    Voted for by TeChNoWC.
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  • Hmmm
    Those that think they are always right really annoy those of us who really are.
    Voted for by mudgod.
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  • hmmmm... the stupid ignorant ppl
    thats what you are talking about. the ones that care about popularity, what music you listen too, if your father is a deacon or not. to not be too insultfull and so that i dont get everybody in there i put them in the stupid ignorant ppl category. ppl can be ignorant or stupid but its hard to do both at the same time. in the end they dont matter. you have better things to worry about then to worry about what other ppl are thinking of you. those that know me know that i dont care if you think im stupid and calling me crazy is the best compliment that you can give me. i always say 99.9999% of ppl have called me crazy... so it must be a good thing. stop worrying about the ppl that dont matter and start worrying about those that matter to you. i have said this before but its worth saying it here... a loner is a person who prefers to be alone than in bad company. so be a loner and have only true friends around you. in the end those ppl that you are worrying about wont matter because they only get a say so in their own minds and in the end reality is what matters so take care to make sure that ppl who dont matter dont cause you to forget about what really matters. only those that you let hurt you can hurt you. something i have said to more than a couple of ppl. what this means is this. only those that are close to you can truely hurt you, that words dont mean a thing compared to actions, and above all that you dont have to worry if ppl say you are doing the wrong thing if you know that you are right and its not hurting someone else then go for it.
    small minds discuss people,
    average minds discuss events,
    great minds discuss ideals.
    - Eleanore Roosevelt
    (cant spell worth a penny... maybe 5 cents soon)
    Voted for by pnktrky.
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