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I'm always reminded of this quote: "We have never met before, but I instantly know him. One look, one phrase, and I know where he grew up, how he grew up, wher

I'm always reminded of this quote: "We have never met before, but I instantly know him. One look, one phrase, and I know where he grew up, how he grew up, where he got his drive and his sense of humor. He is New York. He is Jewish. He looks like my uncle Louis, his voice is my uncle Sam. I feel we’ve been together at countless weddings, bar mitzvahs, and funerals. I know his genetic structure. I'm certain that within the last five hundred years—perhaps even more recently—we shared the same ancestor." --- Robert Reich, Clinton administration Secretary of Labor, on his first face-to-face meeting with Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan That's what kinship feels like. The same psychological effects described in the OP are every bit as real when it come to racial and ethnic identity. It's not "fair"—we don't choose our heritage—but then "fairness" in matters of interpersonal human affairs always was a chimera and a false god. Should people just not be allowed to meet each other face to face? It's silly.

derleth 13y ago
> Should people just not be allowed to meet each other face to face? In some cases, when making some kinds of selections, this is entirely reasonable. For example, in auditions for certain orchestras: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audition#Instrumentalists_2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audition#Instrumentalists_2 > In many major orchestras, a cloth screen may be used at some stages of the audition process, to protect the audition panel from allegations of favouritism or sexism. So they don't see the musician. They hear the music. Which is what the orchestra is about, right?
- happyrock 13y ago
  I suppose that is the crux of the issue. If the orchestra is just about the music, why not listen to a recording instead? The people performing the music are just as much a part of the performance as the music itself.
  - derleth 13y ago
    > If the orchestra is just about the music, why not listen to a recording instead? The social experience. The experience of going someplace special, outside the normal orbit of your life, and being That Person for a while. That Person being your mental image of the kind of person who goes to a concert played by a live orchestra in a concert hall. Maybe, on the other hand, it's a warm and homey return to a younger time, when your grandfather took you to that one performance of Mahler which you will never, ever forget. Lots of reasons, really. > The people performing the music are just as much a part of the performance as the music itself. But is it vital that they be white? Or Jewish? Or perceptibly taller than average even when sitting down?
bcoates 13y ago
Naah, we should just miscegenate away all kinship relationships. Culture is a curable disease.

derleth 13y ago

> Should people just not be allowed to meet each other face to face? In some cases, when making some kinds of selections, this is entirely reasonable. For example, in auditions for certain orchestras: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audition#Instrumentalists_2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audition#Instrumentalists_2 > In many major orchestras, a cloth screen may be used at some stages of the audition process, to protect the audition panel from allegations of favouritism or sexism. So they don't see the musician. They hear the music. Which is what the orchestra is about, right?

happyrock 13y ago
I suppose that is the crux of the issue. If the orchestra is just about the music, why not listen to a recording instead? The people performing the music are just as much a part of the performance as the music itself.
- derleth 13y ago
  > If the orchestra is just about the music, why not listen to a recording instead? The social experience. The experience of going someplace special, outside the normal orbit of your life, and being That Person for a while. That Person being your mental image of the kind of person who goes to a concert played by a live orchestra in a concert hall. Maybe, on the other hand, it's a warm and homey return to a younger time, when your grandfather took you to that one performance of Mahler which you will never, ever forget. Lots of reasons, really. > The people performing the music are just as much a part of the performance as the music itself. But is it vital that they be white? Or Jewish? Or perceptibly taller than average even when sitting down?

bcoates 13y ago

Naah, we should just miscegenate away all kinship relationships. Culture is a curable disease.