I get that a single experience with an "other" will initiate a mistrust based on that experience, but then if you have similar experiences with people from that same group, it will reinforce the initial bias. In a pluralistic and transient society like the U.S., it's fairly easy to meet lots of different kinds of people, depending on how much you get out into the environment. There are so many different rules of etiquette, political and religious beliefs, as well as cultural traditions and norms, though we may live in a neighborhood of like-minded people, just going to the grocery store or visiting another part of town can expose us to those "others." It's as if being a social camileon is the safest way to move around one's milieu.
Wow, that's true, being such a diverse country, your beliefs are constantly put to the test and it's very common to meet people with completely different ideals and customs.
I think that meeting diverse people helps you to be more critical of your own beliefs. It's when we isolate ourselves and only live with our group that we begin to see life in one way and think that the others are unacceptable.
I know there are extreme cases, like everywhere, but do you think the US is a country where diversity is accepted?
Yes, it's accepted, even encouraged, but human beings do have a limit to how much diversity they can deal with on a day-to-day basis. A comment the son of an immigrant to Israel was intriguing to me. He came home from school, speaking Hebrew all day, and said, "It's nice to be home now so I can speak English." It's tiring and can create the need to isolate sometimes. After a certain age, after a lifetime of taking in all the diversity one has encountered, all one wants to do is hide in a comfortable room with a good book or a computer social media group of life-minded friends. As long as all social interaction isn't cut off completely, people can live healthy lives. Even among like-minded people of the same culture and race, there are like quirky differences that sometimes trigger discomfort. That's okay, but as we age, our ability to cope with even those little quirks becomes difficult. It's called getting "cranky."
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Here's a naive question: how diverse if Spanish society? I really don't know, but I'm assuming Spain isn't totally homogenous.
As you say, Sue, diversity can be overwhelming, and this is something that affects us more the older we get, I think because we have been living with our habits for longer and it is harder to renew ourselves.
As for Spanish society, it is diverse, although not as diverse as in the USA. In the south there is quite a large Arab population from North Africa and in the north, as I suppose you know, Basque and other languages such as Galician and Catalan are spoken. There is not much ethnic and religious diversity, but there is linguistic diversity.
Nowadays there is also quite a lot of immigration from Latin America, but in the end they adapt very quickly, they are almost like Spaniards, it is not difficult for them to adapt.
I get that a single experience with an "other" will initiate a mistrust based on that experience, but then if you have similar experiences with people from that same group, it will reinforce the initial bias. In a pluralistic and transient society like the U.S., it's fairly easy to meet lots of different kinds of people, depending on how much you get out into the environment. There are so many different rules of etiquette, political and religious beliefs, as well as cultural traditions and norms, though we may live in a neighborhood of like-minded people, just going to the grocery store or visiting another part of town can expose us to those "others." It's as if being a social camileon is the safest way to move around one's milieu.
Wow, that's true, being such a diverse country, your beliefs are constantly put to the test and it's very common to meet people with completely different ideals and customs.
I think that meeting diverse people helps you to be more critical of your own beliefs. It's when we isolate ourselves and only live with our group that we begin to see life in one way and think that the others are unacceptable.
I know there are extreme cases, like everywhere, but do you think the US is a country where diversity is accepted?
Yes, it's accepted, even encouraged, but human beings do have a limit to how much diversity they can deal with on a day-to-day basis. A comment the son of an immigrant to Israel was intriguing to me. He came home from school, speaking Hebrew all day, and said, "It's nice to be home now so I can speak English." It's tiring and can create the need to isolate sometimes. After a certain age, after a lifetime of taking in all the diversity one has encountered, all one wants to do is hide in a comfortable room with a good book or a computer social media group of life-minded friends. As long as all social interaction isn't cut off completely, people can live healthy lives. Even among like-minded people of the same culture and race, there are like quirky differences that sometimes trigger discomfort. That's okay, but as we age, our ability to cope with even those little quirks becomes difficult. It's called getting "cranky."
'
Here's a naive question: how diverse if Spanish society? I really don't know, but I'm assuming Spain isn't totally homogenous.
As you say, Sue, diversity can be overwhelming, and this is something that affects us more the older we get, I think because we have been living with our habits for longer and it is harder to renew ourselves.
As for Spanish society, it is diverse, although not as diverse as in the USA. In the south there is quite a large Arab population from North Africa and in the north, as I suppose you know, Basque and other languages such as Galician and Catalan are spoken. There is not much ethnic and religious diversity, but there is linguistic diversity.
Nowadays there is also quite a lot of immigration from Latin America, but in the end they adapt very quickly, they are almost like Spaniards, it is not difficult for them to adapt.
Those Latin American immigrants probably have ancestors who came from Spain; thus, they are reintroducing themselves to old habitat.
Hahaha, maybe. It's depends but it's possible.