Are we born with the ability to judge?

"Do not judge individuals," is the first principle of Social Etiquette that society seeks to instil in us. And, of course, we've all heard the hackneyed age-old saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover." We've always been told to be polite and non-judgmental, but have you ever considered the possibility that judging is encoded into our brains and is an innate trait? Is it truly just part of being human to be judgmental?

Others now desire the skills that allowed Homo sapiens to survive 200,000 years ago, according to evolutionary psychology, and one of those traits is making decisions and judgments about people and their surroundings. In other words, we are hardwired. Evolutionary psychologists argue that you can take a person out of the Stone Age, but you can't take the Stone Age out of the person. Back then, these judgements helped humans live by evaluating stimuli to make assessments of risks or danger, and now, we make judgements to decide what is best for us and to better understand others and our surroundings.

When making decisions, one of our reflexes is an individual's look. Our brains are equipped with a supporting element for analyzing faces. This has been proved in trials in which it was discovered that even quickly after birth, newborns prefer to stare at a human face above anything else. Furthermore, it has been shown that even in their first year, youngsters grow more discriminating and are more inclined to crawl towards friendly-looking faces rather than those who appear suspicious to them. By the time we reach adulthood, we are experts at making snap judgments, rushing to conclusions after seeing someone's face for only a tenth of a second.

When we meet a new person, we first use those criteria to appraise them in various ways based on their appearance, demeanour, and other variables. This is an activity that we perform without even thinking about it; it practically comes to us spontaneously, and when asked to explain our decisions, the elements on which we make these decisions are things we have never been taught; they are frequently based on our instincts. Another example of how we make snap judgments based on looks is how we often regard a baby-faced person as more trustworthy, correlate a chiselled jaw with dominance, and see individuals with spectacles as intellectual.

Is there a verdict on judging?

We all judge; it nearly comes to us instantly.

We are biologically programmed to this tendency; it is part of our character. But why do we pass judgment? "Thinking is tough, which is why most people judge," Carl Jung famously stated. In some ways, this sentence encapsulates everything. One theory is that judgment is simple because we depend on past knowledge and heuristics and don't need to think or reason much.

Our brains are programmed to make instinctive judgements about the behaviour of others so that we may move through the world without spending a lot of time or energy trying to understand what we encounter. According to neurobiologists, personal judgement is a natural inclination that may be viewed as a defence mechanism used by the brain. A judgment can be defined as an evaluation of evidence or facts to assist us in making a decision. It's the tiny voice inside our brains telling us to ask that lovely lady for directions instead of that young adolescent since you assumed he wouldn't know. Or when you opt not to queue with the talkative young girl because you believe she will be too lethargic. We analyze or evaluate life events, circumstances, objects, views, thoughts, and people based on the values, emotions, and reasoning that we were taught - sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously. We have touch, speech, hearing, taste, smell, & intuition as human beings. These senses assist us in evaluating and judging people and situations.

Perhaps asking people to "Stop judging others" would not be productive since our efforts will go against our innate human nature and inbuilt impulses. Instead, being more self-aware when we judge can absolutely help. We may utilize that understanding to be more grateful and sympathetic to the environment around us. The reality is that we will judge others and our surroundings, consciously or subconsciously. However, whether we believe judgement to be a natural inclination or not, we should endeavour to be more accepting of others and our individual characteristics because none of us are flawless.

Rab Rakha!!!!!