The problem that we as humans have is a type of intellectual sloppiness. We believe - and it is a belief and not an understanding - that if we can name or label a thing or person we understand that thing or person. When we label someone as Black, Jewish, Irish, Mexican, etc., we believe that we understand the history and motivations of that person. The same holds true when we use the terms Conservative, Progressive, Woke, Racist, etc., to label ideas or people. What Owolade argues so well is that life is never that simple.

Is the human penchant for quickly labeling someone or something a vestige of our evolutionary past that is no longer adaptive? Or, is it still adaptive as long as we can distinguish between labeling and understanding?