Young in’s, The Generalities Experiment and The Baseball Glove Theory

Seems to have been the best of 2010, so it gets a second go on center stage.

The Baseball Glove theory states:  Those who have not been properly worked in by life have trouble catching on. (to the realities of the world)

Three parts:  Those who preach the new age  “positive thinking” dogma typically haven’t faced much extreme hardship.   Where as those who have do not preach such a brand of positive thinking.

Those who have not been regularly generalized in the media or in person may be more sensitive to the concepts than those who have felt the repercussions of social generalizations.   ie: white bread honky being more insulted by a comment about inner city minorities that one whose feeling could actually be hurt.

Those who have never felt judged are more likely to judge others and in more haste.

Most Common Demographic: 20-24 college educated

Possible causes: Young people prepared for the world informed in the history and current events yet still not knowing a damn thing about how it works.  Can come forth as self righteous, idealistic, and oddly closed minded.

The Generalities Experiment

Let’s review a interaction I feel to have repeated a hundred times.  At first my faux pau were the result of not paying attention to whom I was speaking and then having to deal with my lack of adjustment to my audience.  Then it became an undeclared experiment where my gut told me I just had to do it.  Then I began intentionally experimenting  when the subject presented themselves.

It goes something like this:

I get introduced, keep to a very short but  polite greeting, state your name yada yada.

Eventually I speak to one of my compatriots and then the question arises.

“Where are you from?”

“I am from where ever you wish me to be from.”

“No, really.”

“Tell you what, here’s a multiple choice. “  I give them some choices and their answers are of little consequence.  The point is, upon getting the answer those out of the age range make a short statement of their surprise, say something pleasant and the conversation moves on to other things.

Yet, those in the age range the dialog continues as follows:

“No you’re not. You don’t sound like you from there.”

“Where do I sound like?”

“I dunno, yada yada”

“So you have been there?”

Answers then range from no to a few weeks.

So I am a liar. I go about explaining the possible reasons for my accent, from being dropped on my head to my mocking or adoration of different cultural trends to the point that they absorb into my personal vernacular.  For example, where I am from we do not say, “thank you kindly, no worries, bird, mate, scerred or hunker down.”  Some things are of my own creation or parts of ebonics that at one point or another were found amusing to me.  It could be because I spent 8 out of the last 10 years living elsewhere.

Still no dice.  I receive comments fueled by suspicion.  At best some flirting but I can tell I have already been flagged as a naughty boy.

I sometimes then mention to them, “This is why I said you can think I am from wherever you like in the first place.”

A few moments go by hopefully another topic comes up and this is where I drop the bomb.  I make a harmless generalization, “Mohito drinkers don’t seem to tip.”  Then the reaction is priceless.  All the idealism they nurtured in their sociology and anthropology classes gets to be unleashed. Oh boy, oh boy they get to be self-righteous.

I get it, I’ve been there.  I loved those classes.

“That’s a huge  generalization.”  some what appalled.

“You drink Mohitos, cause I’ll tell you a story?….yada yada yada.”

Later in the experiments, to sometimes spare myself a lecture or to actually prolong things I would make a statement like the following; “If you judge an individual or and individual situation by a generalization you can only be a fool but in adult conversation generalizations are taken for granted as something that is not to be considered true nor untrue.  There is at at least some truth somewhere distorted or not at the root of each generalization.  Heck, science is built on generalizations, logic is generalization.”  They have trouble getting their head around that, especially after a few drinks.

With my explanation fueled by with my own personal experiences  and with or without the addition of something like the above, the subjects are still miffed if not even more miffed.

This is where I could then point out that they raked me across the coals for a half hour insinuating I was a liar because I had not fit their Vinny on the block  general idea of how my home peoples are to behave and speak.

They literally made totally uneducated generalizations about where I was from, refused to accept the truth and judged me.  Then directly after became uppity and proceeded to judge me some more for my use of a generalization a lot less personal and usually much more logical.

Now, I could dampen their night and point out their disgraceful display of hypocrisy but instead of being a bully I wait a few minutes and non nonchalantly ask,  “So when did you get out of school?”

If your waiting for the sexist statement I will oblige, How about this,  Only a woman can sit there and insult you for a half hour and walk off insulted.  Sorry, that’s the best I could do and with that we can hit the frat boys.

With young men of this breed, snap decisions are more continuous but when they are of little consequence. Typically not as self righteous because they tend not to care.  Not likely to discus generalities but more likely to act on their own.  There decision making process doesn’t seem to involve the time to take in common place generalizations and are more apt to make their own from their own experiences and dismiss the generalizations of others.   They are not likely to be personally offended especially if the generalization does not resemble them.   More passive B type males may respond on such topics for it appeals to the chance for a intellectual flex of muscle. The A type will often be a brash tree bender.  (like a young bear) A bit hard headed where as the female will listen blindly and find ways to judge the male just won’t listen.

With age, unless the generalization is down right insulting or completely untrue such a statement will result in a variety of responses  much different from the subject demographic.

Agreement, polite disagreement with rebuttal, humor, or inquiries for the basis of such a statement.

In these instances there is an exchange of ideas and stories shared.  In a sense the parties involved have peeled some layers of each others respective onion and have a better understanding of how each other think.

The young in’s have trouble with interpersonal communication with their identities still up in the air, the insecurities still on the surface and the desire to be seen as one that knows what they do not.

Ironically many at that age are open to anything and are complete sponges for new ideas and different perspectives where as the above mentioned subjects will be a little closed until their level self realization and understanding harden enough for them to break out of the cocoon.

And yes this is where someone older than I pats me on the back as says “Congrats you just wrote over a thousand words to describe “young and stupid”.   Then continues to talk about  when they were my age where they thought they finally got it and were somewhat sage like.  Then they laugh at me.

What this all means is if you are someplace and you find your self saying the likes of “not all Irish people drink beer.”  The people are going to think you’re a child.  Others will be calling you Capt. Obvious behind your back  and the Irish guy is going to think you’re an idiot.