Remember that old Latin dictum: “Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto?” In my case, there's one thing I do consider alien, and that's being afraid of the unknown, and especially of unknown, different people.
I'm reading a thread where someone is expressing their fear of a massive migration to Fedi from Twitter. It all feels xenophobic and egotistic. “I liked it when my world was just my own little bubble, but, with every expansion, it became less and less my own, and I hate that.”
Well, I don't. I like meeting new people, visting new places, listening to new languages and exposing myself to different points of view. And, yes, I still use the mute button more times than I'd care to count, because I'm also aware that 95% of everything is shit, but you have to expose yourself to it if you want to discover that 5% that's really worth it.
I despise people who are not open that way. You don't have to like everything (I certainly don't), but why would you preemptively close yourself to it? It feels narcissistic: “I have never left my tiny village, but it's obvious to me that there can be nothing better beyond its border walls.” Smol brain, if you ask me.
@josemanuel anxiety of the unknown is normal and natural. To dismiss those fears as xenophobia is unproductive. People are naturally tribal and like the culture they identify with.
@josemanuel you're thinking that one mode of thinking is backwards and one is forwards, but that's simplistic IMO. Our tendency to become tribal is an evolutionary advantage from when we were a tribal society. Tribes who worked together grew, and those who didn't didn't make it.
Right and wrong is only an extension of our current cultural norms, but those can change, particularly when stressed or when we experience a large change.
@Demosthenes Everything evolves and progresses by being open to change. As natural as it may be to be tribal and identify with one's own culture, being afraid new tribes, cultures, languages or developments is a sign of backwards thinking, IMO. That's why bravery is a virtue and cowardice is not.