by Georgia Stewart

Created on: June 28, 2009

Our modern society absolutely thrives on judgement; it's part of the mechanics that cause it to work in the manner in which it does. People are judged on such things as the products that they choose to buy, the clothes they wear, the clubs they join, the job they do, or if they're unemployed, the way they talk and style or do not style their hair. The truth is that we cannot tell what someone is like by focusing on these superficial outward signs.

Children are taught to make judgements on the friends they make but how can they do that when we must get to know someone before we can understand whether they'll be a positive or negative influence on us? Decisions certainly cannot be based on the type of area they live in, what their father does for a living or whether their clothes are new or falling apart but often this exactly how children are taught to judge others. They are not trusted to follow the instincts that draw them to the right individuals for them.

Some people assume that we need to decide whether someone will cause us danger but this is not necessarily judging them. If someone is holding a gun at me I will do my best to get away from them and out of the situation but that should not prevent me from wondering what led them to such an act, rather than instantly deciding exactly what type of person they are. Everyone has a right to a trial and during it the reasons they did what they did will be addressed. My point is that we can avoid people if we must without imagining how terrible they are. That's simply negative for our own minds.

I suggest that judging others is usually destructive in some way and though it cannot be completely avoided because it has become automatic by the time we are infants we ought to learn to do it as little as possible. Judgement can range from small fairly insignificant thoughts about people to extreme hurtful and harmful actions, such as Hitler judging the Jews, disabled people and gypsies to be less than human and therefore not worthy of life.

We can begin by realising that we really are not in a position to judge anyone! Unless we are perfect in every way and have all of the answers to questions of life, the universe and everything so are infallible in our judgements we should refrain from it in my opinion.

It gets easier with practise and a good way to start is to attempt to only see the good in people. Generally speaking everyone has some good in them and it is not difficult to find if we are looking for it. This healthy attitude is similar to the Monty Python phrase 'Always look on the bright side of life', and I think will make us happier people! Remember that universally we are one race.

If this seems like a simplified way of looking at the topic of judgement I make no apology because the simpler something is the less can go wrong with it, even when it is an idea.

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