What Makes Walter Lipmann Stereotypes
Stereotypes are Photographs Walter Lipmann favors the assumption that stereotypes are predetermined filters in our minds and we imagine them before we experience them as a defense mechanism against indecencies in society and fear of change. An example of a stereotype per Lipmann is a photograph where it only captures a small part of the actual situation that takes place. Likewise, a stereotype is a trait we recognize while ignoring the rest of the whole. Our minds filter that information and fit it into our frameworks. It’s a habit we perform as human beings.
Lipmann states that we have a pre-cognitive idea of what a certain person or object is but then we see them and step away from our transfiguration of it. Our pre-cognitive idea could …show more content…
“If we cannot fully understand the acts of other people, until we know what they think they know, then in order to do justice we have to appraise not only the information which has been at their disposal, but the minds through which they have filtered it” (57). I think Lipmann is saying when we do not understand actions of others are why they are what they are, in order for us to make sense of the situation, we filter what we have seen to better understand it. In a sense, its creating a stereotype or part, to think of it as a whole. I personally believe that thinking in parts to make a whole is easier to follow and make connections when a concept is difficult. Remembering the TED talk, this follows the single-story aspect. We hold on to these stereotypes in a way to conform to societies standards are to defend ourselves against the poor standards of society. “They are the fortress of our tradition, and behind its defenses we can continue to feel ourselves safe in the position we occupy” (64). I think the meaning behind this quote lies in social hierarchy. When we are certain that we live to societies expectation we rely on stereotypes to disassociate ourselves with the statuses of others we don’t want to affiliate with. Therefore, stereotypes are defense mechanisms we filter in our
Lipmann states that we have a pre-cognitive idea of what a certain person or object is but then we see them and step away from our transfiguration of it. Our pre-cognitive idea could …show more content…
“If we cannot fully understand the acts of other people, until we know what they think they know, then in order to do justice we have to appraise not only the information which has been at their disposal, but the minds through which they have filtered it” (57). I think Lipmann is saying when we do not understand actions of others are why they are what they are, in order for us to make sense of the situation, we filter what we have seen to better understand it. In a sense, its creating a stereotype or part, to think of it as a whole. I personally believe that thinking in parts to make a whole is easier to follow and make connections when a concept is difficult. Remembering the TED talk, this follows the single-story aspect. We hold on to these stereotypes in a way to conform to societies standards are to defend ourselves against the poor standards of society. “They are the fortress of our tradition, and behind its defenses we can continue to feel ourselves safe in the position we occupy” (64). I think the meaning behind this quote lies in social hierarchy. When we are certain that we live to societies expectation we rely on stereotypes to disassociate ourselves with the statuses of others we don’t want to affiliate with. Therefore, stereotypes are defense mechanisms we filter in our