Do you judge people on how the look?

For a while I have been pondering over this subject it's a hard one! We all judge people on their appearance and if you say you don't well either your an amazing an human being or your kidding yourself. Myself I would like to think I don't but due to the decades of conditioning I have received I do. When I see a "Chav" ( A British term for a youth dressed in sportswear according to the dictionary, but it a little more derogatory than that ) I automatically think; well their a Chav and would be tempted to engage with them; this in itself is wrong.

We all do it to an extent; some more than others. I like to think mine is minimal and even thought I am susceptible to the conditioning I don't think this is any sort of excuse. It like the famous saying "Never judge a book by its cover"

# Blame it on the conditioning ...

Now we can all blame it on our conditioning!

Society highlights these differences to us all from a young age and ingrains them on us! In reality we should accept people's differences and embrace their individuality. In recent years I have tried to take this approached and have indeed spoken to people who I would not have normally have due to their apparent appearance (wrongly I admit). Thankfully now my conditioning is being diluted and evaporating into the mists of memory. Due to this dilution I am meeting amazing people and having wonderful conversation but most of all realising appearance means nothing (as you would expect) also though I am realising i've missed out on so much meaningful interaction due to stereotypical judgments!

As a species we are slowly breaking apart our connections with each other through various judgments based purely how someone looks. Writing this has just reminded me of a time back yonder when I was around 14 and some people move into my street (squatters) the whole street despised them purely on judgment. Me as a young relatively uninfluenced kid didn't I used to go round and have a great time, they introduced me to Pearl Jam and many other bands. Yes they smoke pot and took drugs but never offered or gave me any, well maybe a bit of pot but I already smoke that then so they saw no problem with this. The point being they were real nice guys and we had a laugh and shared ideas etc. My dad then stopped me going round and without just reason and eventually they got kicked out. My point being they were judged as bad people because of their appearance but in reality when I made the effort to get to know them they were sound people and probably anarchists too! Ahh the usual digression!

The Problem being...

So with society teaching us to be judgemental we are destroying ourselves. Humans are a social animal, we thrive of contact. By limiting our options for potential contact we in turn limit our development and weaken society allowing it's manipulation. This manipulation results in the corporations false advertising and lies becoming the dominating factors in our lives; allowing the 'Conquering' of society. We are all guilty but have been made to be so, equally we all have the ability to break the mould and change this world we are living in and build bridges. From my experience its so very interesting and rewarding, we are not that different really. And when we realise this change happen the seed grows and the world changes!

Brian Deneke

Source

What inspired me to write this post finally was watching the film 'Bomb City'! This is a very powerful film and a true story which also highlights the tragic problems caused by judgment of appearances. It really bought home to me the importance of non judgment and the importance of spreading this message. Yes we all know it but do we live by it? NO!. And we need to start; breaking down this divide and conquer situation we are currently living in.

Next time you find yourself judging someone take a moment to correct yourself. Think about how they might feel, maybe even break out a smile. Who knows you might make a friend or more importantly break down a barrier in your conditioning! Acts like this will bring society together, build community and do away with corporate control and allow your freedom!