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Comment by Vraxx | Hacker News Reader

I tend to believe it's more inherent than generational. It's been around all throughout the course of history in some form or another. My armchair rationalization is that humans are social creatures and form these groups (where outsiders are to be feared) and skin color is one of the easiest "group identifiers" to latch onto :/

I don't think it's something inherent that we can't (as a species) consciously overcome. I have never heard of such justification before now, and I think having it written out emphasizes really well how ridiculous these xenophobic reactions are.

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Different cultures have different reactions to other humans that are outside of the group. Some take aggressive stances, others practice a more welcoming approach.

The Sentinelese people react violently to outsiders, but many (maybe even most) first contacts of Europeans with various natives was peaceful on the part of the locals.

There's enough variation even in just the modern world that I'd feel comfortable saying that aggressive responses to strangers/outsiders is not inherent but a feature of some cultures.

Why it's in some cultures and not others is probably a very complex topic worth investigation.

You are both in agreement it seems. Individuals could be predisposed to xenophobia and racism but external social structures and cultural forces could overcome those predispositions in some circumstances.

"Different cultures have different reactions to other humans that are outside of the group."

Compare speaking rudimentary French in France to speaking rudimentary Spanish in Colombia.

> The Sentinelese people react violently to outsiders, but many (maybe even most) first contacts of Europeans with various natives was peaceful on the part of the locals.

I think it's sort of telling what the evolutionary stance is on being peaceful and welcoming. Look what happened to the natives as a result. In fact being unwelcoming and aggressive can be seen as a show of strength, which is evolutionary advantageous.

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