What have I learned throughout the process?
After watching Adichie’s TED talk, I started thinking about myself and if I have the guilt of creating “a single story”? I have said some stereotypes before and made assumptions about people too, most people probably have. However, I think the only reason I even said those is because I didn’t know more about the people I was criticizing in my head. If I only see people without knowing them, I make all sorts of assumptions about them and that’s not a good way to look at people. I’m almost certain everybody makes an initial judgement on somebody when they see them at first glance until they get to know the person, they will change the way they feel and think about the person, as Adichie has said “All I had heard about them was how poor they were, so that it had become impossible for me to see them as anything else but poor”. This resonates with me because if we see people for only one thing that’s the only thing, we’ll ever see them as. This is the “danger of single story”
When we meet new people or try new things, we need an open mind going forwards. It’s ok to make assumptions, but we need to take them as a grain of salt. When we try new things like joining a sports team or just doing a fun activity people should wait till its over before making up their mind on weather they like or not, because “If everyone’s entitled to their own facts, there’s no need for people to come together. There’s no need for people to interact” says Social Dilemma.
How does the process of minimizing polarization and moving past the Single Story begin with me?
This is a tough question; the entire world is already under the influence of the “single story”. Personally, I think the only way is to listen to others, listen to what they say and take in their stories, and then share yours. As Mikmaw Elder Albert Marshall has stated wonderfully “The foundational basis for any relationship is an exchange of stories”. This way people will get along and become undivided. We have become undivided through the media. What I mean by that is “we all know different things and we’re being siloed into our own little bubbles of information, it’s incredibly difficult for us to get along with one another” said by CTRL-F. The media has affected us greatly by isolating us from real people and socializing. The media like the news, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube etc.… all designs their platforms to show us what we want to see and what they want us to see. WE can start by not using these platforms or just not make an account on them to reduce the affect. Michael Wesch said something that really spoke out to me. “The trial and tribulations of which are sometimes hard to face, yet when we do so we are given the gift of life itself”. I like this sentence because sometimes we just need to stop what we are doing, take a deep breath in and realize that letting go of technology can sometimes be a good thing.
