At the Iron Warrior, we have successfully made it through the last two weeks and are back with issue two! I want to start with saying good luck to upper years on their midterms, and congratulations to fourth years who just got their rings! For some background, see Cameron’s article on the history of the Iron Ring on page 5. On the topic of IRS shenanigans, check out the pictures of some of the pranks we’ve printed throughout this issue. We also have loads of exciting UW news to share! Learn about how we dominated at OEC on page 3, how we sent seven members of one of our design teams to a pod design competition in Texas on page 5, and how the First Year Integration Conference went on page 20. Also, don’t forget to vote in the SLC/PAC Referendum!
I fear that five editorials will not give me enough words to criticize everything in the world, but I will try to cover as many bases as possible. Get ready for round two of what my friends have aptly dubbed a classic Raeesa rant.
I would like to start with thanking Instagram, Tumblr, and Buzzfeed for making this rant possible. I have learned a lot from these stimulating forums, but what has particularly caught my attention in recent weeks is the Two Types of People phenomenon.
For example, there are two types of people: those confident individuals who set only one alarm to wake up at 7:30, and those who set multiple at five minute intervals. There are two types of people: those who pay for Netflix and those who torrent shows. There are two types of people: those who sort their M&Ms by colour, and those who don’t. (Who has time to sort their M&Ms? They all taste the same anyway.) There are two types of people: those who put ketchup on the side of their plate, and those who drench their fries in it. There are two types of people: Coke drinkers, and Pepsi drinkers. There are two types of people: those who squeeze their toothpaste tube from the bottom, and those who squeeze it from the middle. And by far the most controversial, there are two types of people: those who say haha, and those who use the laughing emoji. Yes, Tumblr wants you to believe that there are two types of people. Only two. So you better fit into one category or the other.
But you know what? I set two alarms, excluding my emergency 7:40 “Get out of bed and go to class NOW so you don’t fail Circuits” alarm. I won’t wake up to one, but I also don’t set fifteen. And you know what? I only Netflix because my parents pay for it, but pirate shows I can’t watch legally. And you know what? I hate ketchup. Does that mean I don’t fit into any category?
In reality, there are NOT only two types of people. The world isn’t black and white. Or to put it in engineers’ terms, the world isn’t binary.
One of the problems is conventional thinking, which is a tendency to consider a linear relationship between only the obviously relevant variables in an equation. If we think in a linear way, we fail to see the bigger picture. It also leads to the idea of right and wrong. There does not have to be a right and a wrong answer: like with everything else, there is some extent of truth in both.
Sarcasm aside, I do think this type of thinking causes bigger problems. Not regarding ketchup and toothpaste, but multiple other cases which have real world consequences. I think we inherently try to put everything, including people, into categories in order to understand what we see or (think we) know. Even when they don’t fit. Even when they shouldn’t be confined.
Let’s take a look at more Types of People, and I hope I can impart to you why they are complete BS.
The world would have you believe that there are two types of people: gay or straight. First of all, I would like to get something straight (no pun intended): sexuality is a social construct, designed to adhere to the Two Types of People theory. Sexuality is a spectrum, which most people do not seem to understand, so you cannot confine an individual to one or the other.
Similarly, race is a spectrum. The world would have you create boxes for each race, and confine its members to this box. This leads to unfair assumptions based on unimportant stereotypes, regardless of truth or lack thereof. Racism requires you to target a specific colour range, because it’s not as simple as just dark and light: people are in between. Not only that, but their skin colour does not define their personality, interests, habits, etc. While ethnicity is often a significant aspect of identity, skin colour or race in and of itself is just a detail.
Let’s move on to my personal favourite ism: sexism. The world would have you believe there are two types of people: girls and boys. I do not mean this in the physical sense, but in terms of “gender roles”, whatever that means.
I had a very unfortunate run-in during frosh week. We had program-specific presentations for part of one day, and as we entered the huge lecture hall needed to house our program the guy behind me goes, “You’re in ECE? But you’re a girl.” “Yes I am, thank you very much. To both.” I really hope he was joking; I thought people didn’t think like that anymore.
Gender roles and expectations still exist. Certain subjects, professions, and areas of interest are “male” and others are “female”. Again, this comes down to Two Types of People. But the problem is, you cannot confine someone’s interests and opportunities to fit one of two types, just because of the body they were born into.
Gender roles are most definitely a social construct. Do you really think we were born with an instruction manual telling women to make sandwiches, and telling men to study engineering? I realize the situation is not as extreme as it was in the past, but the time it’s taken to reach this point is appalling. Women were not even considered “qualified persons” until 1929. Like, really? Even today men and women are not equal. Women make less than their male counterparts in the same field. Women pay more for essentially the same product. Sorry, I will try to avoid the feminist rant. Yes, I understand that men and women are biologically different, but it is archaic to believe that societal roles should be defined by this.
Let’s move on to my second favourite topic. I do not need to tell anyone that there are two types of people: Arts and Engineering. I’m sure majority of the engineers reading this paper already believe this to be true.
But you know what: no. Just no. There are NOT only two faculties. There are NOT only two programs in existence. Believe it or not, some people get degrees which aren’t Arts OR Engineering. Mind-blowing, I know. Do you need a moment to let that sink in?
Stay tuned for my Arts/Engineering editorial in the next issue, which has been a long time coming, let me tell you. For now, let me impress on you the idea that Arts and Engineering are not mutually exclusive, nor are they representative of all fields.
In the context of looking at the bigger picture, so many issues come down to Two Types of People. For example, any genocide is about “us” and “them”. The Holocaust was about those of the Aryan race, and those not of the Aryan race. The Rwandan genocide was about the Hutus and Tutsis. The Cold War was about the communists and the non-communists. Many cases came down to the straight white conservative property-owning males and those who were not: most obvious in North America were slavery and women’s (lack of) rights.
Have I made my point yet?
I really do believe that the problem is ignorance and lack of exposure: only when we realize how many different types of people there are can we become more open-minded and accepting. If we could only appreciate the spectrum, we would have fewer problems in the world. If we could only let go of Two Types of People.
I am not optimistic enough to expect to see this happen. Ever. Humans have had recurring issues for our entire existence, but I do think it helps to start small. So let me leave you with this: let’s recognize that there are more than two types of people. There is more than 0’s and 1’s. If we can at least represent categories in hexadecimal rather than binary, we have eight times as many digits from which to choose. If we have to generalize, let’s do so in hexadecimal: after all, doesn’t 7D2 look a lot more diverse than 11111010010?
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