The evolution of prejudice

The evolution of technology and the internet has introduced some evolutions in human social behaviors and interaction as well. With advancements in AI and the seemingly limitless reach of the internet, people are now more connected in terms of information sharing and general communication than any other time in recorded history.

?But connectivity itself is nothing new to the world. People have been finding and inventing ways to stay connected and informed since the dawn of human existence. Like with roads, smoke signals, bells, drums, horns, messenger on foot, messenger on horse back and even the invention of the telephone in the 20th century.

?Though connectivity obviously meant something different back in the day, you’d have to admit it has always been about closing the distance and reducing the time for correspondence and information sharing.

?And today with all the advances made in tech and the wide reach of the internet, staying connected and reaching people from most places on the planet is way easier even in real time.

?This has brought about interactions and connections of people separated by geography while educating others and even causing the world to acknowledge how any form of prejudice no matter how justifiable it sounds or can be made to sound is wrong.

?Prejudice and abuse have also existed just as long and today advancements in technology and the internet are being used by some people that mean well to protect the little guy and hold the big guy accountable.

?With surveillance in just about every city in the world intended for security and sometimes to serve personal agendas of those in the room. And also of course the availability of cameras on every person and every personal device being made. It’s become harder for most injustices, prejudices and abuses to go unnoticed or not outrage people from different locations around the Globe.

?With it’s almost endless applications and ever evolving nature, the internet has literally created a virtual world that now seems to hold abuse and malice accountable not only to the people in your immediate surroundings but also those living continents away.

?Such advances have created some level of awareness for victims and also connected them to people that not only care but could even help. While those on the wrong end of the stick could face possible retaliation from many around the world.

?If you said this or tried to explain things like “cancel culture” to someone unaware or from a different time they’d probably think these improvements mean at least something with the resemblance of a reduction in abuse or even elimination of obvious prejudices because it would be impossible for any to go unseen.

?But the reality is that even as tech advances to awesome new heights, people too are learning, advancing in their understanding and finding new and better ways to bend it to serve our own needs.

?Put it this way, certain injustices still exist regardless of everything being done to curb them. It’s only natural and can be seen in nature like how prey and predators adapt to each other’s changes.

?Take the wild for example, certain prey adapt to their environments and types of predators. By becoming faster, smarter or even developing camouflage making them harder to track or even see hence ensuring their survival. But to survive the predator also has to adapt and evolve to develop better ways to hunt or risk the extinction of their species. They literally push each other’s evolutions.

?So regardless of all this tech and growth done by societies worldwide that make being the bad guy harder. People being people are always learning newer ways to do worse and hide it.

?One example that comes to mind is how some places around the world can have certain laws that can seem to target specific groups. Those groups mostly being made up of minorities. Such targeting is mainly due to the fears and prejudices of the wrong people in positions of power.

?I’ve had the privilege of working with and chatting with people from different parts of the world and the horrors most describe about abuse and prejudices are similar in many ways to everywhere else.

?I can’t speak to any of the ones I haven’t witnessed or experienced myself, but can echo the ones I saw prevailing in the community I grew up in.

You see most places in Africa have certain laws that can punish a person for up to 15 years imprisonment because of who they choose to love, simply put their sexuality. I was raised in a society such as this and I’d have to admit as a kid it was hard to see anything wrong with that because as a child you only take what is taught to you by people you think know better.

These days with the coming of social media, the victims of such injustice and abuse are emboldened by the support and recognition they get from people living on the same planet as them but living in a totally different world from theirs. But even then from time to time you'd still hear things like harsher more absurd laws were passed and the predators develops sharper claws to counter the change.

?It's not all dark though, because social media has brought about the evolution and adaption of victims of abuse they call “cancel culture” which initially was a defensive mechanism meant to hold powerful people accountable for preying on the vulnerabilities of others. Through evidence usually posted to social sites for clout or to rally support.

?While all this calling for justice is a good thing, it is very easy for people to be mislead by mob mentalities and instead of holding wrongdoers accountable. Innocent people are offered to the firing squad as scapegoats or collateral damage.

?Then the system that was intended to protect them becomes their executioner and those initially seen as victims become the perpetrators of the injustices they claim to be fighting.

?It’s a slippery slope that has proven that given the power most people have the capacity to do others harm and systems created by people can be bended to suit personal needs either coming from a position of hate or of fear.

?Either way, the one thing you can never count people out for, is their capacity for improvement and doing good.

?“If it feels wrong it is wrong. Don’t stay isolated, that’s how they get you.”

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