I learn from a worldview taught to me by the Afrikaner culture that I was raised in. Since the church plays a central role in my ethnic group's way of life, our teachings are largely based on the Bible. The way in which I learned to understand judgement was that more emphasis was placed on individual choice than environmental pressure in moral decision making and ultimately decision making in general, before my exposure to the social sciences I did tend see acts of stealing as more of a personal flaw to satisfy selfish wants than a last resort for a desperate person to get their basic needs met, I saw poverty as predominantly a lack of work ethic, oblivious to the fact that some resources may be inaccessible to some groups and through social means people could be excluded and exploited in the structure of society. I ultimately learned to find an equilibrium in these contrasting worldviews. Additionally, another custom that I learned was that aged individuals and professionals are so highly esteemed that it's taboo to converse with them as you would with your peers of equal social status, this was enforced by a norm that we may not address those significantly older than us or those with professional job roles by their name. When speaking in Afrikaans we must replace all the equivalents of "you" and "your" with the person's title. This has shaped my worldview in the sense that I might unconsciously assess social status when interacting with other people and while this norm as a culture may serve a functional purpose in taking care of our elderly and motivating some of our essential workers, it could be problematic considering that we are indirectly being taught to see some individuals as inferior as well, perhaps this norm can be modified to inspire more inclusivity to the vulnerable populations and expectations of generosity, especially from those with the means to be generous.

In my day-to-day life I have a household network, family network, friend network, class network and neighbouring network some of us relate based on social custom and some based on mutual benefit, we also relate on proximity and biology, regardless we do engage in reciprocity, which I will explain in this blog.

My father, mother, brother and sister are part of my household network, I relate biologically to all of them, my father earns money for the household, my mother manages that money for the household, together this brings resources to me and my siblings, which I reciprocate by doing chores and assisting my parents with my technological knowledge on their technological issues. With my siblings we have a division of labour, where we split responsibilities in order to make each other’s individual responsibilities lighter, specialization of labour makes our individual responsibilities lighter as a reciprocal result.

My family network includes my grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles and cousins. I am related to them biologically and by social custom, although I seldom encounter them, our exchange is that we try to support each other’s ambitions and provide opportunities for each other.

My friend network includes my 2 best friends and my old high school friends. I am related to them through social custom and mutual benefit. With my best friends. sometimes I cover the expenses of our gatherings at my place, and they reciprocate by covering the expenses of our gatherings at their place. I would inspire and tutor my best friend with schoolwork, and he reciprocates by analysing, advising, and supporting my exercises in the gym. My other best friend would play rhythm guitar as I reciprocate by playing lead guitar when writing songs. My old high school friends would sometimes visit me when they are in town and tell me what has been going on in their lives and I would reciprocate by telling them what has been going on in my life.

My class network includes my classmates, who are usually seated close by, and this network also includes my lecturers. I am related to my classmates and lecturers through a professional as well as a mutual benefit relationship. With my classmates I am also related on a social custom relationship because it is expected that I network with the person seated next to me. With my classmates I have a reciprocal relationship where we remind each other of homework and assignments. With my lecturers I have a reciprocal relationship because by asking questions I get clarity on the course material, and in turn they get insight into what topics may need more attention.

My neighbouring network involves a mechanic and a wildlife conservationist. We are related by social custom and proximity. Since I used to be an IT student, I usually help them with their computer and Wi-Fi problems when they arise, in exchange the mechanic helps us when car problems arise, and the wildlife conservationist catches snakes if they make it into our yard.

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In the morning, I wake up to the sunlight striking my eyelids through a small opening in the curtains, I grab my phone to look for important updates relating to schoolwork and friends, then I finish up to go to university. When at university I wait in front of the library until it opens at 7:30, during my waiting time I schedule my priorities for the day.
 
When I enter the library, I search for a quiet spot near the window and study there until my first class starts. About 15 minutes before the class I text a classmate to ask if they are on campus yet and I start proceeding towards the class. While waiting for my classmate I remind myself of my academic responsibilities and decide to send my classmates reminders for tests and assignments that are due soon.
 
After I've found a seat in the usual part of class I sit down and my friends join me, the lecture starts. I listen to the anthropology lecturer and as he speaks, I try to derive interdisciplinary insights from the content being shared through relating its significance to psychology, geography and economics where applicable. After the lecture ends, me and my classmate briefly discuss the content's difficulty and practical value, we exit the lecture hall and there is still quite some time left until our next class, so we go to the shop to buy some sugary drinks.
 
While conversing, one of my other classmates joins our conversation, we discuss our hobbies and plans for the weekend and become so captivated in each other's company that 2 hours fly by while it felt like mere minutes. Geography class is almost about to start so we start walking to that side of campus. On our way there I see some friends from high school, so I greet them. The geography lecture passes, and I leave that classroom with an urge to study, because all the new terminology gave me a bit of a shock.
 
After geography I'm messaged by a friend telling me that she is struggling with psychology and would like some tutoring, I arrange a spot where we can study for an hour, and I eagerly teach about my passion and savour the opportunity to hone my teaching skills. After tutoring I go home, have dinner with the family, study till 10 and finish up before I go to bed.

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In this blog I would like to discuss the concept of "othering" by using (TED, 2009) as a reference and relating what I've learned from the video to my personal experience.

From my understanding, othering is when a group depicts another as vastly different from their own and makes assumptions about the other group, which could lead to stigmatization. Adichie used an example of the house boy from her childhood  "So, the year I turned eight, we got a new house boy." (TED, 2009) and that "The only thing my mother told us about him was that his family was very poor." (TED, 2009), Ngozi assumed that this boy's family could not make anything "It had not occurred to me that anybody in his family could actually make something." (TED, 2009).

My experience with othering is that as a child I used to make assumptions about people based on the types of jobs they do, a positive stereotype was that I thought teachers never swear, drink alcohol or smoke, because they were the people that warned us against those things in the first place, this was because I only ever encountered teachers in a school setting, where I was their student, this was my experience with forming assumptions from a single story. A negative stereotype would be that I assumed that all people in uniforms don't like jokes because their jobs require them to be serious all the time.

In conclusion limited information about groups can lead us to make harmful assumptions that could potentially affect the lives of others and bias our interactions with them.

References:
TED. 2009, 7 Oct. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story | TED [YouTube video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg Date of access: 10 Mar. 2024.