I read a comment thread on a Facebook post that a friend commented on today, simplified, it boiled down to "Don't try to join my profession if you aren't prepared to do it the way I think you should." I hope this guy and those with that attitude are not gatekeepers for that profession. It seems pretty exclusionary to me, I've talked about this before in the context of gamers, but it is the same attitude writ large that condemns outsiders like immigrants to in a lot of ways.
The idea that a person should not be permitted access to something if they don't do so in the specific way that the gatekeeper wants them to is a recipe for homogenization in really the most uninteresting way possible, no profession or group is weakened by having more people involved with it, gaming communities have more options for play and wider acceptance in general, professions expand and branch into new areas, a country expands its tax base and gains new, motivated citizens. The idea that socially or economically, things are a zero-sum game is a poisonous, divisive mindset that leads to people shitting on the poor and a man who literally wants to repeal the 14th amendment being a serious contender for the presidency.
Oh yeah, I am equating being a dick to new people in a hobby or profession with massive, institutional, racism and xenophobia. Most people at the micro scale don't hold those beliefs obviously (I hope) but the mindset of fearing newcomers because they do things differently than you, or because they might take away something that is yours, is very much the same.
At it's heart it is tribalism, but people forget we formed tribes because single family groups are weaker separately than they are apart, and that new people bring new skills, resources, and genetic material to a group, all things we wouldn't survive without.
The only risk is that the ideas they have may become more popular than the ideas you have, and honestly, if they are, you need to ask yourself why? Are they actually better ideas? If so, why do you hate them? Are they actually worse ideas? This might be true as well, but why are they so popular? Can you learn from them something about presentation or politicking? It's a risk, but not to your hobby, only to your perception of it, things change and it is not your responsibility to prevent that from happening, you could argue that it is your responsibility to help it change for the better.
Like I said, life isn't really a zero-sum game, someone doesn't need to lose for you to win, and other people winning doesn't prevent you from doing so as well, unless of course they too believe it is their responsibility to be gatekeepers and actively attempt to prevent that from happening. Which, like I mentioned, is why people like Donald Trump are so popular right now, don't be like Trump, never be like Trump.
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4 comments:
Nurturing a diversity of ideas and embracing change is often good and necessary for any given profession to thrive; however, homogenization isn't always a bad thing either. Sometimes there needs to be a certain degree of gate-keeping on a profession to prevent charlatans and quacks from doing harm.
Should homeopathic "doctors" be allowed to work in hospitals alongside their western-medicine counterparts? Should we allow young-Earth creationists to teach biology at public universities? Should anti-abortionists be allowed to work for Planned Parenthood and do things their own way?
"no profession or group is weakened by having more people involved with it"
I disagree. A profession or group can absolutely be harmed by having more people involved with it if those people bring toxic ideas and practices with them.
To riff off your gamer analogy: If a group of people has agreed to play a game by a certain set of rules and a newcomer wants to join but refuses to play by the established rules, allowing that person to join will absolutely harm the group as a whole. Now, there might be something to be said for hearing the newcomer out; they might have good ideas for how the group can change and grow; or, they might just be an asshole who just wants to do everything their own way.
I read an interesting article I'd like to share here about how the concept of equality within the marketplace of ideas is drowning-out important expert opinions:
http://thefederalist.com/2014/01/17/the-death-of-expertise/
Ugh... didn't realize The Federalist was a conservative blog. Now I feel dirty for sending them traffic; but the article still makes some very valid points IMO.
Well sure, when someone completely irrational want to make suspect changes, like in both the examples you set, that should indeed be avoided. My point was more related to things like an individual deciding that he is the arbiter of what a "true" gamer is, and anyone who doesn't have a proper respect for second edition is horrible, or for an artist to decide someone shouldn't be part of their community because they don't like the techniques the other person uses. That sort of thing.
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