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Graphic of wizard boy with lightning bolt on forehead — credit
Throughout the Harry Potter books, Draco Malfoy never misses an opportunity to get under the skin of Hermione Granger. While gloating about the new Nimbus 2001 broomsticks recently purchased by his wizarding house (Slytherin), Draco calls her “Mud blood.” The term is reserved for someone born to non-wizard parents. It’s unlikely that this would land as an insult in our world, but even those of us who are muggles understand that this isn’t a compliment. How do we know this?
Mud comes from dirt, and dirt is… dirty. Things that are dirty trigger in us feelings of disgust. That might sound obvious but it’s actually an incredibly useful emotion. I’ve mentioned in previous posts that feelings offer valuable cues for our survival. That I might throw up in my mouth feeling we get in the presence of all things gross (rotting meat, human waste, the New England Patriots) is something we should be grateful for. These intuitions help us steer clear of bacteria, disease, and infection. Whenever you experience this kind of visceral reaction, you can thank the "purity foundation". There are 6 moral foundations in total, each of which helped humans solve various evolutionary problems, both individually and collectively.
Most of us also believe that which is “pure” is good: infants, pesticide-free fruit, virgins. We understandably associate these examples with cleanliness, which equates to less risk of exposure to that which could hurt or kill us. Like I said, pretty helpful stuff.
Purity can be based on appearance, behavior, or, in Hermione’s case, ancestry. We’re so preoccupied with this that we even extend ideas of purity to include other species. If you’ve ever watched the Westminster Dog Show you’ve heard announcers fawn over dogs’ pedigree. She’s a 100%, pure-bred schnauzer, which, as we all know, is “superior.” By criticizing Hermione’s bloodline, Draco was essentially calling her a “mutt.” Imagine if we had similar contests for humans. We would never, because that, would be ridiculous. Carry on with the dog-groping though—totally normal behavior.
Somewhere along the line, humans expanded their concept of purity to include mind as well as body. We police each other to protect against and discourage impure thoughts, which might lead to impure actions. “Don’t think unnatural thoughts about your cousin, Russ.” We do it to ourselves, too, even when, as far as I can tell, no one knows what we’re thinking. Thank God.
Organized religion has played a major role in all of this. Historically, they have been the authority on all things pure and sacred. This might explain their preoccupation with anything from tattoos and abortion to shellfish and sodomy. They want a pure mind and a pure body.
In fairness, we're all concerned with purity and cleanliness, it just manifests in different ways. Handwashing, sexual hygiene, avoiding "dirty" words.
That last point is hardly trivial. Words are just as capable of eliciting emotions as a stray piece of hair in your mouth. (See?) The world is filled with people, religious and secular, who make use of this. From comedian George Carlin’s list of words you can't say, to those rewriting Roald Dahl books, words carry tremendous power, which is why we’re constantly trying to control their use.
Most discussions about morality — purity and otherwise — can be thought of as battles to determine "whose 'right' is righter." Humans regard their feelings as fact and often use this certainty to craft their messaging. So, morality is also a battle to determine who is the better storyteller. Make us feel the words and soon they’ll become fact. Make us feel the words and soon you’ll convince us that you’re right. Now you’re one step closer to controlling us.
Keep this in mind the next time someone tells you to eat organic, who to marry, or that immigrants are "dirty."
