How to create boring people

After a long period of inactivity in the opinion section of this newspaper, I picked it up again for the edition where Alex Jones expressed his disappointment and disgust for women. I then read the follow-up article from Katherine Pugh about misanthropy and her amusement about the article. I too was amused at his article, not just because his wild stereotypes were laughable, but also because I used to know him as a friend. We parted ways, but I would like to comment and expound on what Ms. Pugh already said.

It is easy to categorize people with labels. It leaves little room for ambiguity or any resemblance of a real human being. In my personal experience, I have had to deal with a wide range of people. Some I wanted to get to know more, others not. The point is that you are not going to like what everyone does half the time. Not everyone is all good and all evil (if one were to believe in such things). And yes, pride IS overrated.

I can only relate from personal experience, but something that has bothered me these past few years is the idea of the label and the way people gravitate toward groups. It is not an issue of why humans are sociable animals, but that we have no need to adhere to groups in order to survive. I know too many people who use whatever cultural, religious or trendy group and cling to it like it is the entire basis for their existence. Are you trying to be one-dimensional? Why? Because it’s cool? Or are you just afraid that if that characteristic of yours was lost, you as an ego would not exist?

To be more specific, I know several people who use their religious background as an attention-getter. It’s like some ice-breaking technique that becomes stale and rhetorical in the end. If I did the same thing, I’d feel like some minstrel set out on a perpetual stage for the world, hoping to appease someone and make a friend. Sorry, there’s more to me than my cultural background. And why be concerned with pride and labels in the first place? The instant you label yourself as this or that, automatically you limit yourself. But, like I said, it is easy to categorize. It leaves out any challenge or adventure. It creates boring people.