Matt

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Viewing 14 posts - 31 through 44 (of 44 total)
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  • in reply to: Why do whites ignore proven racial differences? #37802

    Matt
    Participant
    One important thing to remember is that measurements do not come with pre-attached explanations. There are often quite a few theories it is possible to devise to explain a particular measurement. In the case of the measured difference in IQ between black and white people in America (BTW, the average difference is 15 points, not 25, or at least was in 1994), there is no shortage of ways people can fit this measurement into their own theories about races. Someone who believes in racial superiority can easily claim this is because of genetics. People more concerned about social inequality can take these results and argue that the difference is due to unequal schools, poverty, or any number of other purely social factors. Others can argue that IQ tests are culturally biased towards white people. And if you just had those measurements to go on, they can fit easily into any of those theories. I tend to favor the 'blame social inequality' theory, as I've done some tutoring at mostly black inner city public schools before. The school where I tutored really didn't seem like a good place to develop intelligence to its full potential. The bottom line is, measurements can be interpreted in many ways. About the only way I could see of settling the genes vs environment controversy conclusively would be to have a group adopt a large number of children from a wide variety of races at birth, and raise them all in a carefully controlled environment where the idea of people being divided into distinct races is kept out. That would be pretty difficult to pull off, to say the least.

    User Detail :  

    Name : Matt, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 25, City : Oxford, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
    in reply to: Cubicle coiffure? #27105

    Matt
    Participant
    Many corporate workplaces tend to emphasize a certain amount of conformity to standards of appearance and behavior. To many of the higher-ups, such conformity is a sign of professionalism. Corporate America generally expects people to choose an appearance on the job in keeping with their tasks, and grooming and hairstyle are as important to this as the choice of clothing. There are plenty of other examples of hairstyles for other ethnic groups that would be considered unprofessional, too. If a white man showed up for a business negotiation wearing a hockey-player haircut and scragly beard like Joe Dirt, that would create the wrong impression as surely as arriving in an oil-stained set of mechanic's overalls. It's worth noting that some companies carry conformity in the office even further. For example, I once visited a Honda manufacturing plant where all the employees, from the top management to the workers on the assembly line, were wearing identical white uniforms.

    User Detail :  

    Name : Matt, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 25, City : Oxford, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
    in reply to: Children using profanity toward parents #27500

    Matt
    Participant
    Believe me, not every white family is this way. Not only did my parents consider profanity disrespectful, they had an absolutely zero tolerance policy towards it while I was growing up. I would consider parents allowing a 5 year old to use profanity to be an extreme lack of discipline.

    User Detail :  

    Name : Matt, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 25, City : Oxford, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
    in reply to: Getting down with black men #24682

    Matt
    Participant
    Reminds me of some of the locker room debates from my days in high school on the football team, which had somewhat more black guys on it than white ones. Several times we'd have a black guy saying that black men in general didn't like that and that it was not healthy. Usually, several other black guys would respond by saying they enjoyed the practice. If this is at all representative of the population as a whole, I'd guess there is some truth to the stereotype but no shortage of exceptions.

    User Detail :  

    Name : Matt, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 25, City : Oxford, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
    in reply to: Gluttony is … cool? #37193

    Matt
    Participant
    There are a lot of guys who will brag about just about anything they can do if it's something other men don't quite seem to measure up to. So whether it's how fast their car is, how much they can bench press or how many slices of pizza they can eat, some men will brag about it. Showing off is a pretty common male urge.

    User Detail :  

    Name : Matt, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 25, City : Oxford, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
    in reply to: Why assumptions about Gays/Chrisrianity/Bible #15712

    Matt
    Participant
    I think there are two issues: One is the stance many Christians take on homosexuality. There are passages in the Bible such as Romans 1:26 that refer to homosexual actions as sinful. I haven't seen any passages that appear to endorse such actions, despite having read the entire Bible; if you have found any in your research, I'd be interested in hearing what they are. And there are more passages than you can shake a stick at about God's love for people despite their sin - not to mention ones about plenty of other sins for heterosexuals to be involved in. So hopefully that may explain the basis for the position many Christians take on homosexuality.

    The second issue - why many seem to hold onto their beliefs and not wanting to study the Bible as a whole - is more likely just attributable to intellectual laziness. There's no shortage of that on any religious issue - or most secular ones, for that matter.

    User Detail :  

    Name : Matt, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 25, City : Oxford, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
    in reply to: What turns people away from their religion? #15099

    Matt
    Participant
    I very nearly renounced Christianity after becoming involved with a very controlling, manipulative and sometimes downright abusive church. They did many hurtful things to me claiming it was for my own good, and the way they used the Bible to justify what they did made me wonder if following the Bible really meant following the same evil they did. In the end, I believe what kept me from leaving was the realization that while there are too many people who do evil in the name of God, there are many sincere Christians who focus on compassion and kindness. If it had not been for some examples I had known while growing up, it is quite possible I would have been writing this response from the perspective of someone who is no longer a Christian. So, I think the prime reason for those who leave is a saying some cynic whose name eludes me coined long ago: 'The worst advertisement for religion is its adherents.'

    User Detail :  

    Name : Matt, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 25, City : Oxford, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
    in reply to: White men with black women #16638

    Matt
    Participant
    I'm a white guy who has been on a few dates with black women. On average, I can't say I have had worse or better dating experiences with people from any particular ethnic group.

    User Detail :  

    Name : Matt, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 25, City : Oxford, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
    in reply to: Japanese obsessed with whites? #19580

    Matt
    Participant
    I'm not sure as to whether the characters in anime / manga are meant to look Caucasian at all, although I'm not Japanese myself, just something of an anime fan. I've seen Japanese scrolls in an art museum dating back 1,000 years or so that depicted characters with many of the features shown in anime, in particular the large round eyes. Other facial features shown in anime are more Asian than white, too. And as for blond hair, anime also often depicts characters with hair colors that aren't characteristic of any ethic group at all, like purple or green. So I'm not sure how many characters in anime are meant intentionally to resemble Caucasians.

    User Detail :  

    Name : Matt, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 25, City : Oxford, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
    in reply to: Blacks disliking Republicans #14281

    Matt
    Participant
    I don't think Republicans believe many of the things you listed are attempts to 'exterminate' black people or anything of the sort. For example, school voucers are popular with Republicans because they believe many public schools have failed to provide an adequate education to many children, and think (rightly or wrongly) that vouchers would offer many children, especially African-American ones, a shot at a better education and the better opportunities this would offer. They believe that an increase in minimum wage would result in many minimum wage workers losing their jobs. And so on. I'm not asking you to agree with the Republicans' agenda, but please, try to ascribe more rational motives to people you disagree with than claiming the extermination of your race is one of their priorities.

    User Detail :  

    Name : Matt, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 25, City : Oxford, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
    in reply to: The attraction to vehicles in car shows #23240

    Matt
    Participant
    I'm not a teen anymore, but I am definitely into cars. At the moment, I'm trying to turbocharge a Dodge Dart and build a race car out of a clapped out Mercury Capri. Let me see if I can explain why I'm crazy about cars. Part of it is that I'm sort of the kid who never outgrew taking things apart. Before I got my hands on a car of my own, I was disassembling things like clocks and joysticks. I'm interested in all kinds of machinery and figuring out how they work - and how to make them work better. Then there's the lure of the open road. Acres of open asphault before me, the freedom to set out for wherever I want to be. And how to get there can be as important as the destination. That's probably a holdover from the family vacations when I was little where my family would drive every time we went on vacation - even if the trip was from Georgia to Wyoming. And then there's the addiction to speed and the challenge of competition. Nailing the gas pedal and being pinned back in the seat, or the G-forces of screaming around a corner with the tires close to their limit of adhesion. And the challenge of beating another driver - or one's own best time in the quarter mile.

    User Detail :  

    Name : Matt, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 25, City : Oxford, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
    in reply to: College education vs. wealth vs. class #35295

    Matt
    Participant
    I think there are a lot of factors that define class. Many of them have to do with money and education, and education does help with making money; there's no doubt about that in my mind. Education also exposes people to more ideas and cultural activities, which I think can also be part of class distinctions. So while a college education may not elevate one up the ladder, it is a definite help in moving up in class.

    User Detail :  

    Name : Matt, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 25, City : Oxford, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
    in reply to: Why don’t white people like greens? #26134

    Matt
    Participant
    Greens aren't really a food I saw much of growing up, and the few times I have tried them I didn't find them very appetizing. Perhaps they're an acquired taste and I just never acquired it because they're not a food I grew up with. On the other hand, I do like cornbread and sweet potato pie, as well as several other Southern dishes. I don't think most people who don't like greens have any racial motive for not doing so.

    User Detail :  

    Name : Matt, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 25, City : Oxford, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
    in reply to: Men’s urges #28037

    Matt
    Participant
    I, for one, am not turned on by the thought of forcing myself on a woman. I think the majority of men do not have an urge to rape - or if the thought may sometimes cross their minds, it's not one they would ever consider acting on. Some surveys indicate less than 1% of men would actually enjoy rape.

    User Detail :  

    Name : Matt, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 25, City : Oxford, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
Viewing 14 posts - 31 through 44 (of 44 total)