Very good point. I think this is objectivization -- exactly the sort of cognitive glitch when I encounter people who look very different from what I am used to.

Very good point. I think this is objectivization -- exactly the sort of cognitive glitch when I encounter people who look very different from what I am used to. I like to think that with decades of practice, I can anticipate this reaction, or at least catch myself quickly, or Plan C: apologize. Usually all of the above. People are not mythological creatures. But getting civil society to stumble along, on a path together, has employed no small amount of storytelling and manipulation. As American as apple pie, I suppose.