Ok so you probably don't judge me as such but judgement of one another comes so naturally (and quickly) that we make up our minds about someone before realising the effects that our own thoughts have on us.
"Judgement appears much too early and impedes the freedom of thought..."
'Unlock your Creative Genius by Bernard Golden, PhD, Prometheus Books, Amherst NY'
I read this sentence (now this is not the full sentence and I have taken it out of context) and I just had to write about the subject. Why we judge one another fascinates me. Why does it come so naturally? Why does it happen so quickly and why do we think we know who someone is just by looking at them? Surely we can only be basing our judgement on our own experiences? If this is the case, then are we all so completely illiberal?
From what I have researched so far, it seems that our perceptions are to blame. Our perception of our environment, including those who are in it, are created by our experiences so far. The only way we can view a person is to match what we see with what we know. This happens instantaneously and before we know it, we have a picture in our minds of who that person is.
Isn't it so narrow minded to think our 'scenario database' has every possible situation in it that we can make these conclusions about people. We are convinced we know someone just by looking at them.
I judge people, just like you do. If you are honest with yourself you will also admit that.
When we see someone new, it will always trigger thoughts of curiosity. Instead of automatically judging someone I am teaching myself to 'wonder' about them instead. It allows me to still think about the person but in a non-judgemental way. Instead of making a conclusion about someones life, I like to wonder what life they have led, what challenges they have faced and success they have had. I wonder what makes them happy, what they are passionate about and what makes them tick. I also like to wonder what is going through their minds.
Having judgemental thoughts about someone does not only 'impede our freedom of thought', it also affect how we interact with people. If we automatically feel negatively about someone before they even get to speak, we limit our interactions and therefore our own experiences in life. Limiting our experiences will limit our perceptions. Perception is what we use everyday to create who we are, what we have around us and our finite path. Do we really want to limit that? I certainly don't.
More food for thought.
Veronica Wood
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