Can a society exist and prosper without its prejudices or would it just stagnate and go extinct?

No boring trolling in here.
kthnx.

btw, on topic, I think it'll not be able to prosper. Our prejudices make us explore something which we aren't able to accept. So IMO, such a society is bound to stagnate.

Can a society exist and prosper without its prejudices or would it just stagnate and go extinct?

Do you mean prejudice in the literal sense (pre judgement), or in the common usage (discrimination)?

How does prejudice make us explore something we aren't able to accept?

This is an intriguing topic, but I don't quite understand your meaning yet.

Dictionary.com defines it as an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.

The way I interpret this definition, it means an unfavorable "gut feeling" you have without hearing the accepted prevalent facts. Yeah you can regard it as a prejudgment. It is a discrimination in a very narrow sense that we discriminate against ideas which we dont believe and dont internalize.

How does prejudice make us explore something we aren't able to accept?

I think we set out to look for justification of our beliefs (which are prejudiced against accepted norms[a hunch] initially till we set out to provide it a firmer base) which don't have global acceptance to provide a base to our outlook.

I'm not stating that prejudice is the only factor. But it definitely seems one of them.

Busy giddy minds with foreign quarrels. Neo-con theory says that a society needs an enemy to unite it.

I think we set out to look for justification of our beliefs (which are prejudiced against accepted norms[a hunch] initially till we set out to provide it a firmer base) which don't have global acceptance to provide a base to our outlook.

I'm not stating that prejudice is the only factor. But it definitely seems one of them.

I disagree that we are motivated to find justification for our (prejudice induced) beliefs. Beliefs arrived at through prejudice give us a shortcut to thinking. For example: say I have a prejudiced belief that dogs are dangerous. Now whenever I see a dog, I just avoid it. This mean I don't have to decide whether this particular dog is dangerous.

As for beliefs in general, I don't think that the majority of people seek justification for them. Most people don't even think about their beliefs until questioned, upon which they rationalize them.

It is a rare person that tries to understand himself.

How about we develop a prejudice intuitively against a notion and start looking for proofs. Maybe Einstein worked on the theory of relativity because of that.

Now if you had a prejudiced belief(a prejudice), something that was against the accepted common sense, and you were really curious about it, you'd actually work towards it.

By prejudice, do you mean: disagreement with the status quo?

In that case, then yes, I do agree with you that prejudice prevents a society from stagnating.

No, by prejudice I mean: prejudgment(based on instincts against the presently accepted notion about something).

So subconscious disagreement (gut feeling), rather than conscious disagreement?

So subconscious disagreement (gut feeling), rather than conscious disagreement?
Yup. But subconscious disagreement would percolate to your conscious. Wouldnt it? :confused:

I think it would percolate as an uneasy feeling, rather than rational thoughts.

I think in a prejudice free society people would be too easily conned, the good people would be taken advantage of, and the criminals would prevail. So it would not only get stagnate but decline. Good people would almost be required to give others the benefit of the doubt in order to not appear prejudice. I think as long as you're prejudices are not the basis for decision making then they are a good defense mechanism. You're not supposed to trust anyone anyways.

I think it would percolate as an uneasy feeling, rather than rational thoughts.
That uneasy feeling, IMO, is what leads us to discover. Isnt it?

That uneasy feeling, IMO, is what leads us to discover. Isnt it?

for some, for others it could be used as an excuse to avoid any involvement.

for some, for others it could be used as an excuse to avoid any involvement.
Avoid involvement with what?

IMO, after studying and getting used to a concept, we generally start believing in it. Our prejudice helps us keep awake to other possibilities.

Avoid involvement with what?

IMO, after studying and getting used to a concept, we generally start believing in it. Our prejudice helps us keep awake to other possibilities.

true but we must get involved with the subject first. What i was saying is people can use their prejudice's to avoid things, like how lancaster avoids dogs, instead of using it to create interest.

All right. I was unclear about that specific part of Lancaster's post. Thanks for elaboration. You are right. Maybe its how we react to the stimulus (prejudices) that determines our actions.

it's in nature that man is it's on worst enemy.

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implications? it would be great! peaceful! joyous! is it possible? hell no!

I was watching this documentary (biography) on Richard Feynman - The Best Mind since Einstein and there was a very interesting thing he said regarding how to look for new laws.

Guess -> Compute consequences -> Compare with experiments.

That in a way explains the role of prejudices in discovering something.


At 3:43 mins.

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