A Dangerous Lump

Just yesterday I caught myself in a bad habit, one that I chide others on all of the time.  I was being interviewed by a friend for an article he was working on, one about the Teen Grid and copybotting there.  Since I spent a lot of time crusading against the botting, I answered a few questions about it for him.  There’s where the lump started.  While we talked, I found myself growing more and more bitter, and beginning to become angry at the other teens there.  Perhaps some of my answers less were about the reality of the situation than my bitterness towards a group of people.  I committed the sin of lumping a group of people together.

Lumping people together into groups is a pretty normal, human thing to do.  We already try to form into groups to organize ourselves.  People like to belong, to be affiliated with something that can explain their position in life and what they believe in.  Yet it can be really dangerous, like in the case of racism, saying that all people of one race are a certain way.  It can trigger hatred, jealousy, and bitter rivalries.

Not everyone in the same area are the same.  Not all teens are ignorant content thieves, not all fashion bloggers are fickle drama queens, and not all Goreans are silk-wearing fru-fru princesses.  The negative perceptions, the squeaky wheel, gets the attention.  Even if 80% of a group is perfectly normal, well adjusted people who cause no problems, those who are idiots and obnoxious will receive the attention and shape the perception of others.

I urge you, next time you go to lump people together, take a step back.  Really think about what you’re saying and how many people you’re talking about.  A lot of the time, we’re only focusing on one negative experience or a few people we dislike.  Think about how you might hurt or impact others before you start typing or talking.  Lumps can be cancerous, and we should all do our part to fight them.