Episode 64 - Crip Camp & Belonging
As humans we need each other...desperately. Yet we can’t help rank each other, measure each other, and compare each other. Today we’ll dig into that instinct.
In the breakout Netflix documentary, Crip Camp, we see the inception of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the protests that eventually led up to it. But we’re focused on what would have otherwise been a minor anecdote in a grander movement. How during the first mass meeting of disabled high-schoolers in the history of America, those who had every incentive to be inclusive and accepting couldn’t help but rank each other.
To dig into this we talk about the psychological difference between Shame and Guilt, and we discuss some rather surprising findings about how much guilt is actually healthy for us to experience. The also talk about some of the positive impacts of gossip and other social grooming methods, the origins of the high-five, and finally we discuss why negative behaviors like hatred and fear continue to spread, even if we know they’re morally or factually wrong. Is behavior a virus? If so, what behaviors are you allowing yourself to catch like a nasty cold?
History Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crip_Camp https://www.respectability.org/2019/01/shabbat-smile-terumah-by-neil-jacobson/
http://nda.ie/Publications/Attitudes/Appropriate-Terms-to-Use-about-Disability/
https://www.includenyc.org/content/perspectives-the-problem-with-the-disability-hierarchy
Science Links:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-scientific-underpinnings-and-impacts-of-shame/
https://www.npr.org/2011/05/20/136465083/psst-the-human-brain-is-wired-for-gossip
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/the-science-of-social-pressure/