The method of discrimination

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Ok the discrimination of which I speak, is not contoversial and does not fit under the categories of racial, ethnic, gender etc. discrimination.

Instead I speak of the method everyone uses. We all discriminate daily, by showing a bias or extra tendencies, to almost every aspect of our life. This is something we all do. This is important as we cannot show tendencies of favour towards everything.

The car you drive, the job you have, the partner in life you have chosen, was aided by your specific method of filtering out the other potential options. Let me give an example. You enjoy studying psychology, over time, you decide to specifically study the area of PDD's. For whatever reason you have narrowed down your field of interest in order to specialise in one area. By the method of dicrimination, you have decided not to focus on personality diosrders etc. In other words, it helps us to make choices. What we decide to adopt and discard depends on the individual at hand....

For me I seem to have a very narrow, restricted method. I usually show a tendency of adoption towards topics and fields which I have come into contact first. So the first car I usually see, I will like, and then discriminate/filter out the rest just because they came after. Another example. The first football (soccer) team I ever watched, I became a fervent supporter of. I didn't even give any other options a chance. Usually once I become used to something specifically a topic of interest I usually never take my focus off it, by trying to broaden my horizons and looking at similar things or trying other options which may be better.

I love the Prince of Persia games, (and I like games in general), but because it was the platform adventure game I played first, I am compeletly nuts about it, and dont give any other games in the genre a chance. Can anyone relate (to this long, boring lot of words)?

So, what you are talking about is bias, and not discrimination. I have my own set of biases. For example, I don't like some types of people as a partner... I would rather someone of the female persuasion than a male, and after that there are further biases. They are not discrimination, they are just biases. Now bias can take the form of discrimination, and that is what racism is for example, a powerful bias that clouds the acceptance one person has for another. I am not racist, I accept all people until they teach me they don't want to be accepted.

First of all, I want to applaud your distinction (discrimination?) between the true meaning of "discrimination" and "unfair discrimination." Society has corrupted the meaning of the word by dropping the "unfair" part - which, by their resulting usage, implies that it is always bad to choose between one thing and another.

So, back to the intent of your post - I generally agree. I almost always discriminate in favor of the original movie (over the sequel or remake), the original TV show (over the spinoff), the first recorded version of a classical piece (over subsequent recordings by other artists), etc.

However, there are exceptions for me - the first book I read by a particular author does not always end up my favorite, the first album I hear by a particular recording artist doesn't always overshadow the ones that follow (although it frequently does.)

That said, I have known many people who always carry a bias in favor of their "first."

Looked at from an AS perspective, I can definitely say that my special interests tend to be very specific. It is difficult for me to become interested in "similar" things - because they just aren't the same. For instance, I had a very narrow interest in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (still do, actually) - and while I have an appreciation for other works by Joss Whedon (Angel, Firefly, Fray, etc), I've never elevated any of them to "special interest" status.

Sounds like a strong familiarity effect. As a general rule, people prefer things they've seen before over things they haven't seen.

You like the first car, because, simply by virtue of being the first, it's the best car you've seen. Then, in comparison to all other cars, the first car is more familiar, and so you continue to like it better.

For inconsequential things like picking a favorite sports team, this is a fine method. On the other hand, the category of video games has many exemplars well worth playing, and if you took the time to try other games you might find some you like a lot.

Is that at all enlightening?

I suppose I can be like that a bit. I'll like games related to Super Mario no matter what, even if a great new game was to be released the next day. If I had to buy one, it would be the Super Mario game.

In situations which involve having the choice to do a project alone or with anyone else, I would do it individually... even if there was much pressure in the amount of work to be doing.

Not sure if my 2nd point counts, but my 1st definately does.

I think you are taking the word discrimination in the wrong way. Try to see it in the context of the following.


Try to see it as a basis of dicarding and accepting everyday things, rather than issues of race etc. (I know my explaination was a bit vague, apologies for that)



Yes, make a strong point about familiarity, and you could possibly be right. However as far as the games are concerned (this is just one example of many) once I find a 'comfort zone' of familiarity and likeness towards something I don't almost as a rule consider other options. That is the point of my thread, to see if others think along the same lines....

And yes it was enlightening as was everyones posts, thanks.