Typical Machete Fight

A short while back I TA'd for a philosophy course. During one of the garden path discussions (which was the custom in those days) we began to talk about violence (the sweet, sweet violence). One of the students was a young lady who was an immigrant from Cuba. She was under the impression that the United States was far more violent than Cuba. This is all about perception. She watched the news and heard the worst excesses of the several criminals and thugs that we have in this country. She had an idea of the United States as being a violent place because she had heard about shootings and other assorted madness.

She did say that in Cuba they would have their "typical machete fight" but nothing like what is going on in the United States. I have a couple of questions. First, what is an atypical machete fight? That would be worth seeing. Who would waste their valuable time with a typical machete fight? It is the atypical machete fight that I want to see. Second, who the hell has typical machete fights? That is just crazy.

Perception of events shapes our thinking on the environment. When you have a "typical machete fight" it does not have an effect on you. It is things outside of your norm that cause problems. Apply this to politics. Would we see an atypical politician as "crazy?" Too far outside the norm and we can't seem to deal with it or fit it into our cognitive frame. Maybe we should think more and evangelize less?