On Value Judgements
This post is a result of reflection on the 2 months of 2018 that have passed by. It's the gradual seeping in of the realization that value judgments ruin everything. The intense, almost critical need to label everything has led to a grave lack of objectivity that is dangerous.
There are multiple scenarios where these judgements could prove to be griveous.
I have been thinking that these judgments are how comparisons start - when you're busy trying to grade activities that have happened/are happening in other peoples' lives. You start with calling it good, bad or important even but inherently you're doing this in comparison with what you have. It's easier to go off-track because these activities are happening in a context completely unrelated to your own life.
Value judgements lead you to be believe that you *know* what the outcome of things are going to be; hence you try selectively. With people, this proves to be a hindrance in forming new partnerships or trying to change the existing dynamics. In this case too, you're guessing what will happen when you're going to move out of your comfort zone and is a thought trap of sorts.
Most commonly, this will lead you to judge people because they don't fit in with your line of thinking when to really understand the complexity that a human is, you need to be able to process a multitude of perspectives.
These judgements cause you to lose your patience when you feel like you know what would be the best thing for everyone around you as well. You start prescribing which is convenient in the short run but teaching a person how to think benefits them for a lifetime.
Of course this is not to deny that sometimes these also hold the key to making suitable life choices. In my arrogance and inexperience, however, I think I have committed all of the above fallacies; I still continue to make them. I doubt that I have been able to soften these tendencies to the point where I could undo them or apologize for them but recognition has been key. It's an important gift to be able to see facts as just facts and the aim is to cultivate that practice.
PS - Realized that even this piece has judgements!
There are multiple scenarios where these judgements could prove to be griveous.
I have been thinking that these judgments are how comparisons start - when you're busy trying to grade activities that have happened/are happening in other peoples' lives. You start with calling it good, bad or important even but inherently you're doing this in comparison with what you have. It's easier to go off-track because these activities are happening in a context completely unrelated to your own life.
Value judgements lead you to be believe that you *know* what the outcome of things are going to be; hence you try selectively. With people, this proves to be a hindrance in forming new partnerships or trying to change the existing dynamics. In this case too, you're guessing what will happen when you're going to move out of your comfort zone and is a thought trap of sorts.
Most commonly, this will lead you to judge people because they don't fit in with your line of thinking when to really understand the complexity that a human is, you need to be able to process a multitude of perspectives.
These judgements cause you to lose your patience when you feel like you know what would be the best thing for everyone around you as well. You start prescribing which is convenient in the short run but teaching a person how to think benefits them for a lifetime.
Of course this is not to deny that sometimes these also hold the key to making suitable life choices. In my arrogance and inexperience, however, I think I have committed all of the above fallacies; I still continue to make them. I doubt that I have been able to soften these tendencies to the point where I could undo them or apologize for them but recognition has been key. It's an important gift to be able to see facts as just facts and the aim is to cultivate that practice.
PS - Realized that even this piece has judgements!
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