Category-Think vs. Individuality

found online by Raymond

 
From Infidel753:

In this post a little over two years ago, I ended with what was actually my main point, though it may have looked like an afterthought at the time:

“But we mustn’t confuse strategies and necessary defensive measures with the goal. It would be a terrible failure if, after the final overthrow of Christianity and conformist traditional values, we were left with a sort of Ottoman-style millet society which defined itself as a jigsaw puzzle of discrete communities (gay, black, Anglo, neo-pagan, etc.) with each individual categorized as merely a member of one or another such grouping. The only real success will be a society where individuals are free to be themselves, with whatever combination of traits, desires, and quirks make each person who he or she is, but not defined or categorized by them.”

It’s a point which I think needs more emphasis and elaboration. Humans seem to have a habit of classifying and pigeonholing other humans, assigning them to categories and then defining them primarily as members of those categories rather than as individuals.

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