Mash Blog: How Does Judgement Limit You?

Everyone has judged another at some point in their life. But have you ever considered how making judgments of others limits ourselves? Our judgments are based on our preexisting concepts and biases of the world which results in the creation of a single story through stereotypes. 

“The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie “The Danger of a Single Story”

Image source: misteriopress.com 

Through the many TED Talks, readings, and discussions that I have observed during my English class, I have realized one thing. I discovered that humans can be very stubborn. People do not like to feel as if their opinions or ideas are wrong. As a result, they insert their own views into another person’s story and change it.

“In effect, she kept telling me, ‘Don’t bring your stupid way of seeing the world into my story, because that’s not what it was. Yeah, there was power, but that’s not all there was. You can’t summarize this.’”

Jad Abumrad “How Dolly Parton Led Me to an Epiphany”

Those who have a voice have the power to not only change someone’s story, but to make it the only version of this story. This new single story can create a fragmented view of reality.

“Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person.”

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie  “The Danger of a Single Story”

These single stories and stereotypes create divisions between different groups of people. This conclusion leads me to my second realization: when we let go of our judgments and let ourselves be open-minded and connect with those who we may normally not, we create something new. A third space.

“But according to this theory, when two people come together and really commit to seeing each other, in that mutual act of recognition, they actually make something new.”

Jad Abumrad “How Dolly Parton Led Me to an Epiphany”

“I finally understood what open-mindedness truly meant. It’s not at all about the outside and what people appeared to be, it is all about the inside, about the mind and how we choose to think.”

Maryam Fuad Bukhash “What is the True Definition of Being Open-Minded?”

“When we listen with less judgment, we always develop better relationships with each other. It’s not differences that divide us. It’s our judgments about each other that do curiosity and good listening bring us back together,”(3).

Margaret Wheatley “Willing to be Disturbed”

So, try and challenge yourself! Be open to new experiences and new people.