Sunday, June 3, 2007

Perception

Prompt: Perception



I like to think of myself as a person that does not have very many biases or prejudices. I am very open minded, and I like to look at boths sides of everything before passing judgment. I have noticed a few prejudices in myself though.
One in particular is my prejudice against people that dress certain ways. If I see a man in baggy clothes or a woman in very tight clothes, I can't help but think poorly of them. The words "ghetto" and "trashy" come to mind. If I see people like this, I generally don't speak. I think that working in a popular, preppy clothing store has only helped this bias along. The people that work in Hollister have developed a reputation of being snobby and judgmental. I do find myself judging everyone that walks in the store by the way that they are dressed. I even judge people that I see outside of the store.
With this being my main bias/prejudice, I'm sure that this distorts my perception the most. Clothes do not really make a person, but they do in my eyes. I know that underneath the clothing that I have labeled as ghetto and trashy, there are sometimes people with great personalities. This is a truth that I keep myself from because of the way that they are dressed.
If I think even further, it is possible that the greatest bias or prejudice that I have is the thought that I don't have very many biases and prejudices at all. I have made myself believe that I am the most liberal, open-minded and accepting person around. This in itself could be a bias. It could be me distorting the truth that I am actually very biased, prejudiced and judgmental. Maybe this is just me distorting the fact that I am, in reality, a very prejudiced and opinionated person.
I guess that I'll never know for sure what the reality is about myself. I think that Gorgias and Socrates were right. I think that I have distorted my own perception of who I am beyond the point of truth. Other people may see me for who I am, but I cannot. Because of my own opinions and biases toward myself, I cannot see what others see. I cannot see the real truth.

6 comments:

Lertise Robinson said...

pass but i disagee with the way you feel.

Sheree said...

Pass. I liked your blog. It was very agrumentative. I can not agree with your perception of people based on the way they dress though.

roallen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
roallen said...

pass- i agree with your statement that "it is possible that the greatest bias or prejudice that I have is the thought that I don't have very many biases and prejudices at all." When writing my blog I thought the same thing....I thought that I didn't really have any biases or prejudice thoughts, which like you said may be the biggest bias of all.

Glenn Wise said...

Pass

Our prejudices can cloud our perceptions and also give us a scewed opinion abot a topic. The best phrase that comes to mind is that you cannot judge a book by its cover

nathan said...

Pass I think it is rare you find anyone these days that is not affraid to speak their mind. I mean that in a good way.