The Sense in Not Knowing

Quote: “Just because you don’t understand something doesn’t mean it’s nonsense.” -Lemony Snicket. 

We live in a world where society looks down on anything or anyone that isn’t exactly like them. Diversity is encouraged as long as you aren’t anything too different. We as a society frown on other societies that are different, deeming them strange. Lemony Snicket author of A Series of Unfortunate Events, once stated that, “Just Because you don’t understand something doesn’t mean it’s nonsense.”  

This is excellent advice to follow. Empathy is a rare but much needed quality these days. Learning to have an appreciation and respect for other cultures is imperative for a global society.  Believing that your way of life and culture is the only “proper” way of life is defined as Ethnocentrism and   is a slippery slope.   

Take language as an example, when you are born, you are a blank slate. You aren’t born knowing a language, you must learn how to speak and act from observing the how your parents speak and act.  As a monolingual native English speaker, Spanish, German, or Chinese sound like gibberish. However even though you do not understand what they are saying, you understand that their words do indeed have meaning, the same applies for any aspect of a culture.       

If we are to truly celebrate diversity, we must eliminate ethnocentrism. Understanding a culture and appreciating it do not have to go hand- in hand necessarily, however it is important to remember that somewhere else in the world, there could be someone who doesn’t understand our culture, yet you would still like them to respect you, right? 

Even those who purposefully avoid being ethnocentric, have something to learn from Snicket. It seems that the one thing most Americans could agree on, is that they hardly ever agree on anything. Snicket’s advice is an excellent reminder, that even if you don’t agree with something someone says, you not understanding why they think the way they do, does not invalidate their point automatically. It is essential to remember that before one can properly know something, they must first attempt to understand it. Practicing empathy in every aspect of your life, will make you more productive and even may lead you to understanding yourself a little better. 

As teenagers, understanding one’s self may prove a challenge. The first step of re-learning to love yourself, is understanding yourself. Many teenagers express or even believe that they hate who they are or how they are. Just because you are unique, being different than those around you, doesn’t make you strange. Others judging you because of something you can or cannot change, does not validate their hate or yours’s. The secret to successfully thriving in a diverse society, is this: It is not required to like everyone, but to understand them, at least to some degree, is essential to the very idea of diversity.