Diorama

There are two great camps amongst the human species: The physical and the intellectual (we'll simplify somewhat to make a point). The intellectual represent, let's say, 5% of the population while the physical comprise the other 95%. Here is the important part: neither is superior to the other. What do terms like "superior" mean anyway? Nothing. There is, as far as I can tell, no God and no big scoreboard in the sky, no outside reference point by which to judge things. The most we can say about the two camps is that they are fundamentally different.

Naturally, each side despises and distrusts the other. Nature makes sure of it. The intellectuals despise the physicals for their ease of socializing and their carefree attitude toward mortality. In a pettier mood, they sneer at them for not asking any questions and for conforming to majority mores. The physicals despise the intellectuals for their hold on society's top decision-making positions, for their creativity, and for their insight. In a pettier mood, they laugh at them for being effete, socially awkward, and whiny.

You can see that neither camp is innately right or wrong. Like dogs and frogs, they are merely different. Anyone can feel superior and justify a point of view or a way of life he or she happens to follow, and fear and hate those who are different. One would think merely by realizing this (say, by reading something like this blog entry), one could suddenly rise above the fray and adopt an attitude of tolerance toward all people.

But it doesn't happen. Physicals don't do it because they don't even think to do it, they just bull their way forward and react without much contemplation. Intellectuals have even less excuse, for they do see the situation for what it is, yet continue to lash out and feel persecuted due to the lack of representation their minority status creates. And so the world goes round and round, and these two groups lives amongst one another but separate in most ways that count, like different species in the same diorama.