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How many times a day do we tend to prejudge people while being confronted to various situations in life ?
The way we have been educated/raised up by our parents/grandparents, our family environment, the society in which we live, our friends, our teachers/mentors, our role models, radio/television/newspaper etc… all these factors contribute directly or indirectly to make us what we are now. We acquire various knowledge and experience in our life starting from childhood to adult life and all these elements form our character and personality.
Depending on our cultural, religious, educational and social background, we might sometimes (or often) consider ourselves as superior (or inferior) to other categories of people in certain fields.
When we meet a person for the first time, the way the person behaves, speaks, is dressed up, his/her hairstyle and so on…, give us a first impression on him/her which is good or bad but which might not be the right impression…
Sometimes we will even avoid or refuse to go to a social function, a new restaurant, a cultural event, a new country etc.. because we imagine beforehand what kind of people we might meet and thus prefer to play safe..
I am not saying that we shall not prejudge people’s appearance/thinking/actions… based on our knowledge, principles, values and experience because this is human nature. But what we can do at least is to always try to keep an open mind on what we see/hear/learn/experience, and then depending on the impression we could have (whether good or bad), let us try to verify that before ‘closing’ doors to relations and opportunities to enrich ourselves in every aspects in life.
Your comments are most welcome.
Alain Fok
The way we have been educated/raised up by our parents/grandparents, our family environment, the society in which we live, our friends, our teachers/mentors, our role models, radio/television/newspaper etc… all these factors contribute directly or indirectly to make us what we are now. We acquire various knowledge and experience in our life starting from childhood to adult life and all these elements form our character and personality.
Depending on our cultural, religious, educational and social background, we might sometimes (or often) consider ourselves as superior (or inferior) to other categories of people in certain fields.
When we meet a person for the first time, the way the person behaves, speaks, is dressed up, his/her hairstyle and so on…, give us a first impression on him/her which is good or bad but which might not be the right impression…
Sometimes we will even avoid or refuse to go to a social function, a new restaurant, a cultural event, a new country etc.. because we imagine beforehand what kind of people we might meet and thus prefer to play safe..
I am not saying that we shall not prejudge people’s appearance/thinking/actions… based on our knowledge, principles, values and experience because this is human nature. But what we can do at least is to always try to keep an open mind on what we see/hear/learn/experience, and then depending on the impression we could have (whether good or bad), let us try to verify that before ‘closing’ doors to relations and opportunities to enrich ourselves in every aspects in life.
Your comments are most welcome.
Alain Fok
