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A new blog to contain answers to prompts |
| Prompt: Writer Francois-Marie Arouet, who was better known as Voltaire was imprisoned on May 16th in 1717 for his outspoken opinions. Let one of these Voltaire quotes inspire your entry today: "Doubt is an uncomfortable condition, but certainty is a ridiculous one." "Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do." "Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers." "Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable ------------- I think all the quotes have great or some value in themselves. I may or may not agree with parts of them, but they are somewhat indicative of our human condition. So, I'll take each quote and write a short answer to it. Then, I'll try to bring to surface about what I think about anyone who may be too judgmental, say, as if to imitate Voltaire. 1. Doubt : Yes, doubt is uncomfortable. Personally, I hate it. But then, as is certainty. It is like putting all your eggs in one basket. 2. Man or woman, if given the chance or the occasion, hold back from doing good ("Good" in the quote needs definition), certainly some guilt can be attached to their indifference. 3. Judging one by his questions rather than by his answers, in my opinion, is a fault in itself for judging anyone because what they think and do or by their questions or answers in their personal lives is nobody's business. In fact, judgmental people throw me off completely. 4. Optimism vs. misery is another thing. It is every person's right to be optimistic or wallow in misery if they choose to do so. And here goes that judgment thing, again. So now, I'll write a bit about being judgmental here. Forming opinions and conclusions about other people quickly and harshly, based on limited information, can have terrible outcomes and negative effects. A judgmental person may feel a fleeting sense of control or superiority, but this can come at a high cost. It damages relationships, limits personal and social growth, and does away with empathy. In my opinion, the first victim here is the judgmental person himself. For, if he persists in being judgmental, his empathy will be shut down and he'll understand nothing about the human condition. This may limit his compassion and deeper connections with others while providing him with a very narrow view of human behavior. Also, being judgmental reflects insecurity and hidden fears. Such a person may judge others harshly to feel better about himself, or to conform to social standards, or to deflect from his own perceived shortcomings. Then, on the larger view, judgmental attitudes fuel stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination, because they reduce people to labels and create social divides. It also creates a negative mindset that may be copied by the more vulnerable people in our societies. Having said all that, I still think we are all judgmental to some degree, or else we wouldn't be able to survive in this complicated world, since we would end up being flaccid, weak people who cannot form true opinions or acceptable behaviors. I think, therefore, it is okay to judge fairly another person or situation inside us, but yakking about it openly and especially in a hurtful manner can come at a high cost to ourselves. If for nothing, but because being too judgmental openly can create a false sense of superiority and can put limits on our learning from others' behaviors. |
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