“crush culture” by conan gray
I really enjoyed this week. First of all, I love reading The Conquest of America. Todorov is very unapologetic about his views, and I find that very refreshing. One of the main fears that I had about moving to DC was that everyone was going to be very PC, and I’d have to bite my tongue a lot and be overly conscious of what I say so I didn’t offend anyone. However, I soon learned that there’s another side to DC culture where people are proud and loud of what the believe and I love that. In fact, I have a friend who squared up with a guy in a MAGA hat at the Holocaust museum—these are confrontations that I’ve watched online, but I never thought I’d experience them in my life. Reading Todorov reminded me that as long as your arguments are supported by evidence and are well-founded, you should be proud to share them. I’ve noticed a change in our class since the beginning of the semester—people are willing to share controversial ideas and defend them. I appreciate that.Todorov’s argument about Columbus reminds me about a concept called egocentric thinking traits. There are five basic ways that people’s perceptions are skewed: first, innate egocentrism where people hold onto their beliefs even though they have never questioned them, innate socio-centrism where people believe because it fits with society, innate wish fulfillment where people hold onto beliefs because it is in their best interest to do so, innate self validation where people hold onto their beliefs because they have always had, and innate selfishness where people hold onto beliefs because it benefits them somehow. I believe that everyone suffers from at least one egocentric thinking trait because it’s not human nature to question the origin of their beliefs. I also believe that Columbus suffers from every single one of those egocentric thinking traits. What I love about the egocentric thinking traits is that its existence implies that we are in charge of our beliefs and are able to recognize our biases and learn from them. Thus, we have the ability to choose our personalities and actions if we wish to do so. When applied in the context of Columbus, I am able to hold him accountable for his actions and beliefs and not consider it a product of his time or society. We get to choose who we are.
https://westsidetoastmasters.com/resources/thinking_tools/ch10.html
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