Why do you think most people judge each other. Is there value in it, does it help? @ecoTrain question of the week

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As much as I like this witty quote by one of the greatest explorers of the subconscious mind, I cannot fail to see the irony in it, it being a judgement in its own right.

The problem for me with the English language has always been that one expression in English can be translated in so many different ways into German, which I dare to say is much more precise and analytical than English and therefore more suitable to exact definitions.
So us Germans always have to kind of guess what exactly is the meaning of an English expression when it comes to deeper meaning and philosophical discussion, so I assume to judge in this context has the more negative connotation of judgemental judging with maybe a whiff of prejudice included.

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Life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards. - Soren Kierkegaard.

Quite a good explanation of the human condition.
And in going forward we must make judgement calls, because we have no exact knowledge of any future outcome of our actions in this complex mess called life. So judging becomes our compass from which we hope to get a sense of direction. We divide everything and everybody into two catagories: pleasant and unpleasant, we react with like or dislike (even if Facebook grants us only a Like button) and we want to attract pleasant stuff and repel unpleasant stuff.
That´s what „normal“ people do, only self-realized masters have overcome the pairs of opposites and dwell in the realm of non-dualism.

There is nothing bad or wrong with stumbling through life like that, the problems arise when we take our judgements and elevate them to the status of some eternal truths, when we mistake the map for the landscape and stop to realize, or maybe never realized, that judgement is only a tool to help us approach a complex reality and an unknowable future without getting hurt too much.

When a bird sits somewhere on the ground picking and it gets startled it immediately takes off and settles high up in a tree in safety. It doesn´t ponder What´s that? A cat? A hungry cat or a friendly cat?, it just takes off and maybe then, from the safety of the tree, checks out what startled it in the first place.

Us humans are very much the same.
No matter how modern we like to be, the basic human functions are still on a paleolithic level with the reptile brain in charge of a lot of stuff, like fight-flight, love at first sight, urge to protect infants etc. and I guess judging others is part of that complex, so we cannot not judge.
So judging itself is neither good nor bad, it is all about the actions that follow afterwards.
If I meet somebody new and judge him to be a fool, but don´t say anything, not much happens apart from me maybe harming myself a bit with my thoughts, because them negative vibrations will have some effect on me. If I tell the guy he´s a fool, it could be a whole different story.
If Hitler would have kept his disgust for the Jews, which was a result of judging, to himself, not much would have happened, but he was very outspoken about it and convinced others to get rid of the Jews, giving a horrible example what judging others can ultimately lead to, if done on a grand scale and followed up upon with violent actions.

So judging is like a knife, you can cut your food with it or stab somebody to death.
It can help the individuum to navigate through life without hurting others or getting hurt too much, or it can lead to genocide in its ultimate negative consequence.

I want to close with a quote by one of the great humanists of the 20th century, it is one of my all-time favorite quotes and its message we should never forget, especially nowadays with polarisation, identity politics and demagogues on the rise.

The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn

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