Magnification

Magnification: The action or process of magnifying something or being magnified, especially visually. -Google

            Magnification is an emphasis or the enlarging of the worth or value of a particular quality one has or action one performs. The opposite of mitigation, it serves to make the given quality or action the sole source of consideration for the targeted group or individual. In a sense, one can think of magnification as the skewed perspective on a ‘redeeming quality.’

            Magnification comes in two forms- typically it is used to define others by a single quality. Using magnification in this way allows one to limit their observation or understanding of the other to the one quality or practice in order to avoid the difficulties or complications of learning more. Magnification can also be used among one’s own group for similar reasons; on some level it may be a lack of learning(or perhaps more accurately, denial or refusal) , and on another, it can be a form of mitigation; magnifying one quality or trait in order to overlook or excuse others that would tarnish the value of the magnified quality or action.

            The problem with such behavior is that it assigns (often false) value to the given quality, and people perceive this single factor as more important than other traits that make up the person or group, which makes an objective understanding and judgment impossible. Much like mitigation, this allows for a hyper-positive or hyper-negative view of a group when the reality of any group is likely somewhere in between. Magnifying the negative actions of an individual of an ‘other’ group, and then applying those actions or opinions to their entire group makes for a reason(RE:, excuse, ‘justification’) to marginalize or discriminate against them. Conversely, magnifying the positive of an individual in one’s own group allows for the dismissal of the negative, allowing them to continue harmful or discriminatory behavior. In effect, individual, non-universal, non-defining factors become so enlarged that they are then perceived as redeeming or damning qualities(often for the entire group) when they should not be.

            Both Mitigation and Magnification are about avoiding a closer look at humanity- one’s neighbor’s and one’s own. The best thing we can do as individuals is alter our perception.  Seeking information from multiple perspectives, multiple sources, is key. When people behave in questionable ways, we must ask ourselves if those traits are inherently positive or negative, or merely different.  By constantly comparing what we believe(or rather, what we have been told) about others with what we actually see in those others in our daily lives- their actions, their traits, good and bad, we challenge the stereotypes that define and separate us, and we break down the lenses that keep us from seeing who we all are- individuals.