Why are people so quick to judge one another?

I kind of think that it may be an evolutionary hold over that has been mated with centuries of the development of social norms and customs.

In the early days of human kind, we had to make judgments on our fellow tribe members as to whether they were friend or foe, or if they would continue to benefit the tribe or not.

As humanity continued to evolve and cultural norms and customs began to be ingrained, we replaced our judgments of people’s survival effectiveness with judgments of how well they fit into our notions of “good society.”

Make sense?

I can think of a zillion reasons why. Insecurity, close-mindedness, fear of the unknown, culture, religion, lack of generosity, self-importance, etc… then, any combination thereof!

GQ.

It probably boils down to a combination of fear of something different, and insecurity. This is sweeping, but then so is the question a generalization. Pop psychology would dictate this, but in reality, we are all different, and each case is indiviudual.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard Totally makes sense. I just sometimes see judgements being made that are really not fair and that end up hurting people (unintentionally, but still). Sometimes really horrible judgements are made about really wonderful people and I kind of wish there was a way around this though I know there really is not.

I think a quick judgement is a survival trait that survived from the days when anyone outside your tribe was a potential enemy. Look at tribal politics in Afghanistan to see its usefulness. If I lived there I would be wary of strangers, they might be a suicide murder there to punish your tribe for some real or imagined slight.

Fortunately, in a civilized country, we are able to get past our first impressions and get to know the real person. I remember I guy I worked with on a ship. He was a big black guy that didn’t say much and kept in the background. Frankly I thought that if I said the wrong thing, he’s have no problem throwing me overboard.

Since I can’t stand being unsure of people I made an effort to get to know the guy. It turns out that he has a great sense of humor, a wife he loves, and kid is nurtures. The only difference between us is that he would be a better guy to watch your back than I.

The point is that we have our instincts but we have an intellect to modify our feelings to improve social harmony. Often early man didn’t have the time to get to know strangers.

Making judgements is what we do best. The tree dropped an apple on Newton’s head, and if Newton had lived maybe 10,000 years earlier he would have thought the tree (or the gods in command of plant life) had it in for him. It is human instinct to ascribe intention to every sentient or non-sentient action.

If a person behaves in a certain way, we naturally make a judgement as to why. If we don’t intuitively understand why, then we still make a judgement, for the simple reason that that is what brains do best. If we don’t understand the action, then we will think of a reason that is more likely than not misleading. Humans also have a tendency to form a victim mentality (i.e. “he laughed at me, so he musn’t take me seriously,” will be chosen over “there is something amusing in the vicinity”), so we will demonise other people to give ourselves the moral high ground against a perceived enemy.

Judgements usually take place in the primitive ‘lizard brain’, and as soon as higher order thought processes are engaged people realise that their judgements are baseless.

Maybe an underlying want to find others to feel close to, to trust in to form some feeling of community. We judge to see where we’ll situate the people in our lives and those who pass through it.

Well, I’m not going to try and give some evolutionary explanation; I do it when I don’t feel good about myself. All. The effin’. Time

I don’t feel good about it afterwards, and I know it’s bad when I’m doing it, but damn if it doesn’t make me feel better for that split second. When I’m walking down the street and I look like ass while smelling like feet I can’t help but go “Ugh, that guy is a tool” or “That girl is probably a superskank.” Kind of helps to think that you’re not the only one that’s imperfect ;)

Like I said. I’m not proud of this. It just happens. The one redeeming thing is that I don’t do that to people I’m going to interact with. Only random strangers I’ll never see again. It doesn’t affect my relationships with people.

I think it is partially the result of self preservation. I must make judgements about the people I meet in order to determine if they are safe or not.

In a social sense it is a petty thing to do and I try to correct myself when I realize I am doing it. I remind myself of the old saying, not until you have walked in their shoes and all that.

It’s called, If you spot it, you’ve got it. In other words, we often see and criticize qualities in others that we, ourselves, possess. Think about it next time you see someone saying or doing something that annoys you.

For most of us we can’t know about somebody by only a few times’ meet, so we can only judge a person by his or her outside at first, but when time goes on, you can gradually know his or her inside.

Everyone’s trying to figure out how to best be human. To judge another is to judge a part of one’s self. It’s only a problem when the judgments are unnecessarily definitive.

You may find some of the answers on this question helpful.

Because everything is prejudice something. you make choices based on bias ie you like one thing more than another and this transcends into judgements you make judgements all the time its an extension of that. But when it concerns irrational judgements this is either on fear of the unknown or inferiority.

We are selfish, inconsiderate, self-centered people who will almost always take the easiest route. It’s easy to judge others while believing we are the best we could ever be. It makes us feel good about ourselves to look down on others. We want to feel special, to believe there couldn’t possibly be another human being better or more special. It’s what we are taught, it is what is around us in almost everything we see and the cycles repeat themselves throughout the generations. Our first instinct is to react before thinking. That initial reaction is generally a judgment.

I am fascinated with people and the reasons behind their decisions. I both love and loathe people as a whole.