There are two types of people, those who oversimplify difference and those who don’t. The way it works relies on an 'us-them' model, either someone is alike or not, and since those like us are one of us, those unlike us must be one of them.
I heard a really good analogy about this one time. Suppose you were standing somewhere on Earth (this shouldn’t be much of a stretch). You look up at the sky and you see a planet. Which planet is it? There are many clues, though perhaps you will need a telescope. But if you oversimplify difference, it doesn’t matter. A planet is either Earth, or it isn’t. Jupiter is Mars.
On the surface level, I don’t think this is a big problem. If your entire world was Earth (again, not much of a stretch) then who cares about rings, or moons, or the color of the planet? It’s either part of us or part of them, so those considerations matter only to the extent to which they clarify the relationship to Earth. But imagine the other side, imagine being on Jupiter, and learning that over on Earth, you were considered Mars. Jupiter, Mars, same difference. Well now, that would seem silly, and maybe offensive. At the very least, you would conclude that those folks over on Earth had no clue.
If you are waiting, reader, for me to point out that this is also a stretch, this hypothetical of being on Jupiter and learning you are called Mars, well, don’t hold your breath. It isn’t much of a stretch at all. I think we all share the experience of being lumped into something else, often by an ‘us-them’ thinker. It’s probably a much more relatable experience than sitting around on Earth, suspecting all the other planets are alike, forgetting that the one thing we all share is the need to be recognized for our individuality.
