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09-15-2009, 12:21 AM | #1 |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Mirkwood, well actually I live in North-west Scania, Sweden
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Natural Selection or Preordained?
School are often rife with fractions - the computor club - the chess club - the jocks - and their inevitable gf's - the cheerleeders - the goth girls - the punks and so on.
This kind of group creations Ive often wondered about. Is it natural selection - that is do these people live their group lives according to the age-old edict of "Survival of the Fitest" - meaning that geeks are geeks and jocks are jocks and never the two shall mingle. Or is it - in some way - preordained. A person that likes books, chess and computors - are they really supposed to be marked for life with the epithet Geeks? And the same goes for those who are very sports-oriented - are they forever also branded Jocks? Not to mention the usual image of cheerleaders - superficial airhead - is this also a given? Glad to know your views on the matter. |
09-15-2009, 10:11 AM | #2 |
Elf Lady
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: In the lands where mountains are but a fairytale
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We do not have those groups in high school. At least, they did not exist in mine.
We hardly had groups at all, except for the smokers who had their own little place on the schoolgrounds, but that's it. I guess it has nothing to do with preordainment then
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09-15-2009, 12:01 PM | #3 |
Entmoot Attorney-General,
Equilibrating the Scales of Justice, Administrator ♎ Join Date: Jan 2003
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GW, the reality you describe is very black-and-white. Are you sure things really are that stereotyped?
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09-15-2009, 12:16 PM | #4 |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Mirkwood, well actually I live in North-west Scania, Sweden
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Well there must be some basis for all these teenage movies, dont you think?
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09-15-2009, 12:23 PM | #5 |
Entmoot Attorney-General,
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Well it isn't a teen movie if it isn't ridiculously stereotyped
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09-15-2009, 06:31 PM | #6 |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: sikeston, MO, usa, earth, sol
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Sorry, but I though fractions were mathematical thingies. In that case I'd go with the geeks and the chess club types. Remember, you're most likely to end up working for a geek anyway (cf. Bill Gates)!
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09-16-2009, 02:03 PM | #7 |
Quasi Evil
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Maryland, US
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As a species we tend to need to pigeon hole each other so we can know what we are up against. Invariably of course the pigeon holes arent perfect but it doesnt really matter for the sake of division is accomplished. And this probably dates back to the dawn of our evolution when it was imperative to our survival to have a kind of tribe identification way of thinking. And millions of years later we see it still in our high schools...
So yes I guess what Im saying is that I do think its very much a part of us to divide and group up in this way. Especially when young. But never doubt these stereotypes, although based on some reality, are NEVER perfect and sometimes far from it. I dare so most people are too complex to be stuffed into one simple mold. JOCK. PUNK. GOTH. METAL HEAD. PREP. Im sure even on this very board dedicated to open unabashed nerdish reverence of JRR Tolkien, we have some "nerds and geeks" who just happen to love playing sports or occasionally actually go out clubbing or partying rather than staying home reading or who secretly HATE Star Trek... Yes! It is possible! So struggle against your innate instinct to group identify. Its the only way we can really be true to ALL aspects of ourselves.
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09-16-2009, 02:11 PM | #8 |
Elf Lord
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Thanks, IR. Very good post!
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