Background Knowledge
It is amazing how people interpret a sentence differently.
Yesterday, I posted a video of me saying, “If I am a sheep, at least, Let me be a free sheep, okay? Suckers!” and then the next day, I am in a mess.
It is a nice line which resulted from a friend and I chatted for a few minutes. The idea originated like this. There are always people or organizations who are at the top of the chain and they control many others who are within the chain no matter what country. They basically control everything and since we aren’t one of them, we’re merely their sheep. But, even then, it’s better to be a sheep in the forest where you are free to choose what you wanna do rather than a sheep on a farm. So, the sentence is, “If I am a sheep, at least, let me be a free sheep.” And, “Suckers!” is a shout out to the blood suckers you know who.
But, some interpreted it another way. There is a mentality called sheep mentality or mob mentality which is you act like people around you. They interpret “If I am a sheep, at least, let me be a free sheep.” as “Among a group of sheep, I want to be a free sheep which isn’t bound by anything.” meaning I want to be different or I am different from you. By saying “Suckers!”, they thought I cursed them for doing the same.
Some interpreted this way. To them, “If I am a sheep, at least, let me be a free sheep.” is I am free and I am not a part of anything and I will not participate in anything. To them, “Suckers!” sounded like “If you want to do it, then do it yourself. But, it sucks so leave me alone.” I think it offended them very much.
And, they easily believed what they interpreted and then they raged. lol
See? The importance of background knowledge! We make assumptions based on our background knowledge and they become our biases. And, we continue to live our lives with those biases until we can break them and free ourselves. No wonder psychology is a very interesting subject.
This is how a person can drag himself/herself into a mess.
Lesson Learned: A sentence without much content can put you into a mess.
Feb 3, 2021 9:55 PM
