How Societal Hierarchies Shape Our Perceptions, According to Emily Lyons

In a recent LinkedIn post, Emily Lyons discusses the profound impact of societal conditioning on how individuals perceive differences and assign value. Lyons shares an anecdote about a group of schoolchildren who struggled to identify meaningful differences between themselves when prompted, highlighting their initial ability to see distinctions without assigning hierarchical importance.

As Emily Lyons observes:

“Nobody in that room had taught these kids who they were supposed to be different from yet.

A film crew asked a group of school children to name the differences between them. They struggled.

One liked different food. One lived on the other side of the neighbourhood. One had bigger toes. Some of them seemed so unfamiliar with the exercise that they used the question as a chance to say what their friend was better at.”

The Unlearned Assignment of Value

Lyons uses this observation to draw a parallel with adult life, suggesting that the capacity to differentiate is innate, but the societal instruction on which differences matter is learned. She points out that the children in the film crew’s observation did not mention superficial markers of difference that often become significant later in life.

According to Emily Lyons, the children’s initial responses were devoid of the value judgments that adults often impose. “Nobody mentioned skin colour. Religion. Money. Class. Status,” Lyons writes, emphasizing that these markers of hierarchy are introduced over time.

Navigating Adult Perceptions

The core of Lyons’s argument centers on the difficulty adults face in distinguishing their own authentic beliefs from the values and social structures imposed upon them. She posits that much of adult life is spent unlearning or re-evaluating these externally derived notions of importance and belonging.

Deconstructing Societal Hierarchies

Lyons elaborates on this point, stating:

“I’ve spent most of my adult life building businesses around people. Hiring them, interviewing them, sitting across from thousands of strangers, hearing their stories.

And the older I get, the more convinced I am that one of the hardest parts of becoming an adult is separating what you actually believe from what the world handed you.”

This process, in Lyons’s view, involves critically examining concepts of impressiveness, importance, belonging, and the formation of in-groups and out-groups. She argues that children naturally notice differences without assigning inherent value, a skill that adults often develop to a sophisticated, and sometimes detrimental, degree.

The Lasting Impact of Early Lessons

The post concludes with a poignant reflection on the universality of this experience. Lyons suggests that every individual begins with the unadulterated perspective of a child, but the lessons of societal value assignment inevitably take hold.

“Every one of us was once in that room. The lesson took,” Lyons concludes, underscoring the pervasive nature of social conditioning. Her insights prompt a consideration of how societal norms shape our understanding of ourselves and others, and the ongoing challenge of discerning genuine beliefs from ingrained assumptions.