Social Divided In Groups In David G. Myers's Ingroup And Out Group

As a society we are known for categorizing our world and ourselves, while also gravitating towards our those who are similar to us within our comfort zone. This behavior is not uncommon for people as they categorize themselves as a member of the in-group or the out-group. By being socially divided in groups, it's inevitable for people to put their own group before others. In David G. Myers’ Ingroup and Outgroup, he discusses the idea that ingroups and outgroups come from our “social definition”through our “race, religion, sex, academic major [,etc.]”, as well as defining “who you are not”(99). This means that who we are as individuals is defined by what category we fall into. Myers goes on to explain the idea that as a society we are notorious

The problem with this thought process is that when we encounter groups outside of our norm or meet someone who is opposite of us, we tend to dislike or even hate them just because they do not meet the requirement to be in out group. In David Bohm’s On Communication, he references the idea of individual and societal “blocks”, which in my opinion, are the exact reasons why people group themselves (15). He explains that these blocks are formed through people’s “prejudices” and “insensitivity” to those not of similar mind or body as us, and because of these blocks we tend to allow ourselves to believe that people who are not the same as us are below us (16). We believe that those that agree with our opinions or look how we look, is better because to us our group makes sense while we do not understand the other. I think that division based on similarities or differences is fueling the idea of superiority amongst groups, creating prejudices between us and them. When we use what make us different to divide us, then as a society we are accepting that because there are differences then one group must be wrong and who would choose the group their a member of to be

Mill understood that humans have a hard time look past what they know to see opposite views, and when it comes to groups we have a hard time going outside of our single group. We put ourselves in groups with those who think like we do on purpose. This means that we are only ever exposed to a single side where no one questions its validity. When once in a group people become comfortable with what they know, and they pick those who do not challenge or disagree with them, but when it comes to groups who oppose our views, then we tend to find the individuals intolerable and subordinate. When we find ourselves in these situations we cannot help but be prejudice to those who oppose