People (including myself) seem to have the habit of being very critical of pretty much everything anyone besides themselves does. This can be as small as “How could she wear that, my GAWD!”, but it can also be regarding much more important subjects in life itself (not that fashion isn’t important…).
As a general rule, I think criticism, at least the type delivered in a positive and respectful manner, is a very good thing to have. How are people supposed to learn anything if nobody provides an opposing opinion? If nobody had provided Mozart or Beethovan with criticism, its likely we wouldn’t have the amazing music we have today they composed. The same holds true for artists like Rembrandt and Michaelangelo, thinkers like Einstein and Gandhi and even sports stars we love to hate (In the spirit of the Olympics, I’ll give Eric Lamaze as an example since he has an interesting enough past to warrant some research).
But of course, our criticism is only half the story. Its easy to be critical when you’re looking in, but it is often an entirely different story from the inside looking out. Maybe you see a parent who’s telling their kid they can’t have a candy. You might think to yourself “what a witch, what could a small candy hurt, serially!” but the truth might be entirely different. Maybe the kid is diabetic, or allergic to something or has problems with food colouring. You might see someone driving a fancy pickup truck in the city and think to yourself “Stupid truck drivers!!! Get a freaking car!” (something I do myself all the time since I hate trucks), but who’s to say they didn’t just get a car wash and normally the truck is used for hauling construction materials or working on the ranch/farm.
It’s so easy to slip into our own personal world, assuming that everything we see is related to us. We compare how we would handle a situation with how others handle it, sometimes knowing only the most basic information. While this is pretty natural I think, it can also lead to problems as people make potentially bad decisions based on problematic assumptions. An example would be someone walking up to that parent and getting up in her face about a little candy, or a relative giving the kid some candy on the side because she doesn’t think it would hurt and the parent is just being mean. These can lead to extreme consequences, especially in regards to allergies, but also cause confusion and bad feelings on the part of everyone involved.
So next time you find yourself thinking something bad about someone else, try and put yourself in their shoes and think about it from their perspective instead of your own. Doesn’t mean you can’t be critical, but at least then you’ll have something to back it up with…
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