Something I've been pondering. I think this might be a sensitive topic, but something I would like respectful help exploring. (we= American society, specifically midwest) When we think outside the box, are we really just thinking in a confine of some other sort? We're just in a different shape. When we're open are we open to all possibilities or just what we're told. If a gay person expects that everyone should be accepting of their lifestyle is it okay for them to judge someone who breaks a social norm of a different sort. The person who faces the wrong direction in the elevator or something similar. How can there be this demand for acceptance of something so big when there is a refuse to accept a social norm broken on a such a comparatively miniscule scale? I've seen this a lot in several people recently. I must admit I was surprised that someone I would have assumed to be so open be actually very judgemental and closed to strange human behavior. Perhaps they have not ever considered any of these ideas? How can I be mad at them when I am not sure if they even care whether or not anyone accepts them? Perhaps they expect me to consider them just as odd as they consider me? Our discrepencies with social normative behaviors veer in wildly different directions but perhaps neither of us care about the acceptance of others? Perhaps we both do and don't know how to express ourselves to that effect?
I know I judge people. This and the act of labeling and organizing people seem to be unavoidable. I try the best I can to avoid negative judgements and labels. When I consider people I never think "what a bad person!" I just admit that they're not appealing to me, and I don't want to associate with them. If I am not given the option of avoiding them, I try to use my interactions with them to widen my perspective. This usually leaves me pondering things like the above in an attempt to understand their way of life. I consider that there is no objective good or bad in the world. There are few social transgressions that are accepted world wide as bad, but even these are not unanimous through out human kind. What is right and wrong is subjective. I am not bold enough to say that my ideas regarding virtue and vice are the correct versions. I am content with my decisions and have no qualms with my actions. This hasn't always been true in my life, but I've taken the time to reflect on both my thoughts and actions and their incongruencies.
Anyways, you are welcome (nay encouraged!) to add comments, ideas, suggestions of directions in which to take this thought train, or anything else you can think of that may help me explore this topic more in depth.
xoxo Claire
A large part of the human brain is to act as analytical computers; we cannot help but judge our environment, which includes people. I enjoyed the way you put it, "I just admit that they're not appealing to me, and I don't want to associate with them. If I am not given the option of avoiding them, I try to use my interactions with them to widen my perspective."
ReplyDeleteThough it is entertaining and something to do, I don't think it is necessary or, many times, even possible to understand another person's way of life, as we are always bound by our own thoughts and minds, even when trying to think outside of them (still thinking). The only efficient and result driven attitude that can be adopted is to accept the person, ensure the person cannot and will not physically hurt you in some way, and let them be, and let yourself be.
I think the most important thing is to do exactly what you said, move on from the past. It is best to recognize that we are all ignorant in some form or another, and it is likely the knowledge, conscious or not, of this pesky ignorance, that makes us angry when we see ignorance in other people. It is best to recognize that if you have awakened to a truth, it is only a matter of time, hardship, and success that another person will discover that truth as well.
We are all of us greatness.
We are all of us at fault.
We are - all of us - we are.
o.o
ReplyDeleteThanks for alluding to one of my haikus! The original for reference and comparison may interest someone...
We are all brilliant
We are all of us great sin
Human is Nature