Value Judgments (due Thu, Oct 4)
 

Today in class we judged. We judge all the time. We judge each other, we judge fruits in a supermarket, trying to determine which one to purchase. We judge what looks “good” when we try on clothes, we judge whether one thing is better than another.

We too are judged. People judge us. They size us up, assess who we are, draw conclusions. Institutions judge us, law enforcement judges us, our supervisors judge us, some believe that a God judges us. Many factors feed into those judgments. Stereotypes play a role. So do preconceptions. So does compassion. So does objectivity.

Think about judgment for a moment. Is there a role for it in society? Is it essential to functioning in society? Or is it not essential, does it serve no function? Consider this and then write a thoughtful post taking a position on it, responding to the comments of those who precede you on the discussion board. Be sure to support what you say with some concrete examples.

Judgement is “essential to functioning in society”, looking at it from a law and morality stand point. When it has to do with things like what clothes look the best, I think it is more a matter of one’s personal taste. I know, I am oversimplifying, but I think judgement really matters when it involves ideas or people. However, seeing the different judgements we had about the peppers, it is no wonder our judgements about other things are sometimes so different from one another’s.

There has to be a body who judges our actions, and deems them to be either right or wrong, for example a judge, parents, policemen, or God. If we don’t have a set of rules that the majority agrees on, our society would be in chaos, and if we don’t make judgements on people who make or break these laws, there would be no point in having them in the first place.

However, then we get to some questions that are difficult to answer. Like, who decides what the best judgement is? Is it the same for everyone. Must we take into account, or ignore individual circumstances? For example, a hypothetical situation: a poor farmer grows marijuana on his lands in Colombia because he has no other means of obtaining an income. This man wants to do anything he can to feed his children. However, at the same time, a girl who smokes this marijuana in Massachusetts, eventually becomes addicted, and dies of an overdose.

Okay, I know this isn’t a very good story, but I think it would be difficult for me to judge this man if he were caught. Would I put him in jail because he has broken the law? Or would I maybe take into account that he had no other choice. Would I judge him a bad man or a good man? I would feel sympathy for him, so yes sympathy definitely plays a role in my judgement. However, I would also feel sympathy for the girl’s parents. I could get into things like, well, we should first fix things at the root of the problem, like corrupt governments, etc, and then I could deal with this one man. But what if we had to make a judgement on that one man only? Personally, I don’t think I would put him in jail, but maybe I would act differently if I were a judge, and had sworn to protect the law.

Then there are judgements of people’s personalities, or deciding whether we like a person or an idea. I definitely sometimes judge people and ideas before I know a sufficient amount of information about them, or before I am well-read about them. This, I believe, is wrong.

However, we should be careful to differentiate between instinct and judgement. If you judge people based on things that they can’t control, like race, color, and gender, then, in my opinion, your value judgement is not a VALUE judgement, because you are not judging this person based on their value.

Well, this is all I have to say for now, because this question has really made me think about why we judge certain things in certain ways, but I have no answer.

I'm not sure that what I'll have to say will do anything to answer the questioned posed by our indomitable Ms. Freeman, so be forewarned.

Despite Artemis's modesty, I think her/his post was well thought out and addressed the question at hand.

I think Artemis has made it obvious that there is a role for judgement in society -- her mention of our legal system, which judges individuals daily, is an apt example.

[blah blah blah insert transition sentence here]

I agree with Artemis that judgement is essential to our society, but not just because "our society would be in chaos" if there weren't a body to judge our actions (though that's valid, as well).

Judging is essential because it's a part of human nature; it's unavoidable. Because values are instilled in us from day one, we can't help but see the world in terms of those values as we grow up and observe the world around us. That's judging. This isn't good or bad inherently; it just is. It seems to me that because judging is unavoidable, it should be beyond the realm of "good" and "bad."

But of course it's not. It brings to mind a quote that I've seen around: "Life is neither good nor bad, but thinking makes it so."

Artemis made an interesting point: people have to delineate between instinctual judgements (hasty conclusions) and value judgements (judgements you take time to develop). I'm glad s/he brought it up, because it's a comment that has a lot of merit.

...

Judgment is a very good thing. The human beings ability to judge other people by what they wear, eat, listen to, or say is human nature. Not all judgments are made consciously. Many judgments are reactions to certain observations made by a person.

However, to judge someone on surface appearance is wrong. Today in class we judged peppers. This is completely different type of judgment than the one we make of people; one is more demanding about the physical appearance of food for the simple reason that it is a product that you are going to put into your body. When we first meet someone, generally we do not have to make an instant decision of whether we want to accept this person into our life.

Now our country has been faced with the immense problem of national security. Many people are judging other Americans of Middle Eastern descent, and categorizing them into one general classification of terrorist. This is an unthinking and very wrong way of using power of judgment.

sadly
 

Judgements are important for a funtioning society such as ours. How would we choose which is a better candidate for presidency, the gobernatorial election, the senate, to repersenting us. We must judge these people do not know, more so we must trust the. Thus we judge them "i like him, i do not like him" and our societies government is based on such judgements

I also want to add that juidging the peppers was flawed. See we were judging vegitables. Now aspects of a vegitable are taste, feel, size and freshness. We did not taste the peppers, there for it was impossible to decide on which pepper was the best. It was an unfair judgemnt of the peppers

A necessary evil
 

I do believe that judgements are necessary parts of our society because often one is forced to decide something about a person without having the chance to really get to know them or sometimes to even talk to them. As Lish stated these types of judgements are crucial in events such as elections where the voter does not have the chance to get to know the real candidate but instead is forced to judge them based on their appearance and the ideas that they choose to share with the public.
While attempting to pick the "best" pepper it became apparent how stupid judgements really are because we didnt really know anything about the peppers or about how they would taste yet we all managed to quickly form opinions on which one was the best and why. The same often happens in today's society and although people usually understand that judging others are wrong they continue to do it because it is such an accepted thing.

Judgements are such an essential and constant part of our society that we never really question whether or not the judgements are good or bad. Many of our judgements have been instilled in us by our parents such as our views on other nationalities, races, genders, etc. While we should "listen to our parents" we, as well as they, need to realize that we have our own minds and need to make our own choices and "judgements" on life. Not all judgements are bad. Like previously stated when we elect a national/state official we are making a judgement that is necessary to our future. We probably are not familiar with the candidates, but we make a judgement and vote on the candidate we feel will do a better job or one who we like better. That is a type of judgement that we can not avoid. However, while we make those kinds of judgements for special occasions, we are faced with unnecessary judgements everyday. We judge our peers, our teachers, even ourselves. Not all the time are these judgements called for or even "good". Judging people is a vital part to our society. The way they are convayed is totally up to the human making the judgement.

Peppers vs. People
 

It is very interesting how a majority of us in class today judged that pepper number four was the best one. "It had the best shape," one said and "It was not deformed [so it's the best]," another said. Now take those same descriptive phrases and apply it to people. We didn't know which pepper would have the best taste but a great number of us were certain that the pepper number four was the best. We judge people all the time and usually we do it subconsciously.

Judging people has always been in our society. That is why we have the judicial system. As to the question: Is it essential to functioning in society? I would have to say yes. We need some kind of structure that will enable us to judge if a person is guilty or not; however not all judgements are final and should always be considered "right." When I judge someone I don't base my opinion on their appearance but rather I base my opinions through their actions, the way he/she treats other people, etc.

I agree with 000. Judging is a part of human nature. No matter how many times we may say "I never judge a person." In our thoughts we often do. Sometimes our judgements may come from our own families, not only the media.

I realized that the least favorite pepper and the favorable one (#4) could represent how we can act towards people. Would we pick someone from the crowd just because they looked helpless and looked as if no one else would pick them? Would that be fair to them? Would we pick another person who looks stronger and more shapely on account of their appearance? These are just questions to think about. I don't know if what I wrote is understandable. I could come up with a thousand situations in which people judge others but would it change the fact that we would keep on doing it anyway? (hmmmm)

Is judgement required in society? No, but then why is there so much variety in society? I mean why don't we all wear the same clothes, and the same shoes, the same hats and live in identical houses?
My sarcasm is just to say that in our society it is very essential to have judgement on certain things, it is why each person is different and respected for their opinions. I like fubu, while someone else likes gap, which is to say that we each have made judgements toward the others clothing. The pepper experiment, was a good way to show that we as a society make decisions on what we see on the outside, because on the inside they tasted and looked the same. In the movie we saw today, it portrayed blacks as bums and when the women saw the black guy eating a salad, she assumed it was hers and that he stole it, not thinking, "Where are my shopping bags?" She then proceeds to steal his food and not thank him for buying her coffee. When she sees her table with her salad and her bags she doesn't even think how she stole from him only, she justs laughs at her mistake. She judged that because he looked poor and was eating salad that it was hers. That's not cool and that was real cheap of her to not even give him the benefit of the doubt.

In response to littletigger: Yes, it is true that the lady in the film ought to have checked for her bags before she sat down and not jumped to conclusions about the man. However, aren't you passing judgement on her now? Perhaps she was laughing out embarassment and not knowing what else to do. And, although it was probably her own fault that she lost her wallet and missed her train, she did have a difficult morning.
In the end, it's just a film, but I think that the point is not to assess the woman's faults in passing judgement, but to realize our own tendency to make assumptions- not only in how we react to the man, but also how we judge the woman.

I think judgement is something that cannot be helped. In some ways it's important, and in some ways it's just unfair, but whether it's right or wrong, it won't be stopped. When we look at a person, we automatically judge them , but whether we realize it or not. We've all had certain values and thoughts on people drilled into our heads by our families. I know that almost all the stereotypes that I thought of were based on things that I've heard my parents say over the years. That isn't right, but it's instinctual. In some cases it's okay, but I definitely think we should put more emphasis on the inside as opposed to the outside. With food it makes sense to make judgements like that which we did in class the other day, but with people there's a lot more to take into account than color and shape and how squishy someone is. Maybe squishy wasn't a good word to use there. I didn't really say anything profound... oh, wait, one last thing: about the lady in the movie when she totally jumped to conclusions about the guy stealing her salad- the first thing that popped into my head was that she didn't have her bags... and I wondered why she didn't notice that they weren't there. Was I the only one?

I think that judging is essential to society, not in everything, but judging helps us make choices, sometimes good sometimes bad. For example, you're walking downtown minding your own business coming home from work alone and a strange man calls you, "hey you in the blue shirt, come here." Well, you turn around out of curiosity and the guy looks a little "shady," not the best looking character. So should you ask him what he wants or walk away quickly? You judge by his looks that whatever he wants it's not good and you walk away quickly.
Maybe the guy wanted to rob you or something, if he did you made a good judgement; yet maybe he was just a lonely guy who wanted a smile and chat?
Whatever the reasons we judge people, like Olsonator wrote that judging others is "instilled in us by our parents," like don't talk to strangers when one is young. Like Prodigy1283 wrote about judging the peppers, we are "more demanding about the physical appearences of food" because we will eat it.
Well, just like judging the outside of food, we judge the appearances of people because people become a part of our lives.
But not all judgements are right, like the lady in the movie, she was not right in her judgement of her "lunch date". He was really nice to buy her coffee and not get offended that she was eating HIS salad.

i want to add about the movie...
 

Everyone is talking about how the lady did not change because she didnt give the man the coin. i just want to remind everyone htat she had one nickle to her name and most likely had a long way to get home. Maybe im just cruel, but if i am running through Harvard sq. and in a rush to get home, and only have a dollar to my name, i'm not going to give it to someone panhandling. Ill feel bad, but i wont, i might need it to get home, or to make a phone call. We cant judge whether or not she had changed because we dont know hwat she would have done had she had more than a nickle or a quarter. She did pause to look at hte man. I just wanted to add htan because i did not say it in class.
Also, honestly i think judgemnts, in some ways are a good thing, it jsut depends on whether or not htey are fair. Many ppl make unfair un just judgements

We make judgments all the time. We judge what kind of food we want to buy, and we judge the people that we come into contact with everyday. Some of the judgments that we make are useful and serve a purpose in society. When we judged the peppers in class, we chose what pepper we thought looked the best. People always judge food before they buy it; why would some one want to buy rotten vegetables? Some judgments that we make aren't useful, however. When we judge other people, we usually make unfair assumptions. As soon as you look at a person, you make certain judgements about them. A good example of this is the typical blonde stereotype. These judgments are usually wrong, because you can't know what a person is truly like until you actually talk to them. Judgments, whether they're true or false, are a huge part of society and have to be dealt with whether we like them or not. People just have to realize that not all judgments are the right ones, and have to learn the truth before passing judgments on others.

In class we were judging peppers to see which one is the best, because we want the best or the one that most likely fits us. Like everyone else, I think judging is definitely essential to our society. We judge people everyday, whether its in a good or bad way. Today we were judging the woman in The Lunch Date, because we wanted to find out more about her character. Same thing colleges are going to do when they receive our applications and essays. Society feels a need to categorize people in sake of keeping people in a order.
We can't help but judge people because we are all different and have our own opinions. When you see things in another way it tends to cause others to form an opinion of you. People judge others by the way they dress, who they hang out with, activites or interests, and etc. It can be unfair and harsh at times, but it can also be compliment. We all continue to do it, because we are so use to it being part of our daily life. I don't think it will ever go away....

Judgement is entirely necessary. Our government, society, and lives are all based on judgement. Without judgement, life would be extremely monotonous. Everthing would have to be perfectly equal, or else we'd constantly be in a quandary about what to do, what to choose, and what to say. Judgements of people, however, are unnecessary most of the time, at least initial judgements. They are based on past experiences that don't necessarily reflect the person being judged. But judgements based on personalities are valid and often necessary. They are necessary to help you decde who to associate with and trust. And besides, it's not like we can be told to not judge; it's human nature, and its going to happen whether its good or bad.

Judgment
 

It is important to understand that there are many different ways in which to judge a person, and that while some of these ways are needed to have a successful society, others only serve to promote superficiality and prejudice based solely on the exterior.
Students applying for college are judged based on their academic record and altruism. In an election, voters must make judgments on which candidate is the best for the job, who will serve the people's interests best. Judgments for a specific purpose and based on achievements or credentials, like these, are extremely important to our society, and we need them to function. Even judging peppers is important, because who would want to buy a nasty, foul-tasting pepper because it looked pretty?
Which leads me to the second (and entirely unneeded) type of judgment. Judgments based on unimportant things such as physical beauty, gender, and race are judgments that have no positive aspects. When we judge people needlessly, we have created a gap of prejudice and assumptions that can keep people from ever truly understanding each other. The woman in "The Lunch Date" is a good example of this. I do not consider her to be a rascist, but rather an extremely judgmental woman who, because of her assumptions as to what people unlike herself are like, can not at first see the kindness in the man who helps her with her dropped bag, or the man in the cafe who buys her coffee (even after she stole his salad!). Judgment based on looks alone is useless, unfair, and had no place in our society.

I was going to begin by stating the obvious: people judge. I was going to apologize for making this simple fact my point, but it's a true fact and makes a good point. (I was going to feel bad that that was my point.) But "000" beat me to all of this.

"000" pointed out that judging is part of human nature--this is the complete and simple truth. I cannot imagine ever living without judging, probably because everyone (including Ms. Freeman) pointed out that we make judgments every day.

So is judging necessary to society? I can't exactly speak for society here, but I'm going to say yes. As "Artemis" pointed out, there could be complete chaos without the enforcement of rules caused by judging...that is a very valid point. But even more importantly, I think that judgment is necessary to society because we would not be healthy human beings if we did not judge. It is instilled in the human mind to judge, so one would have to be pretty messed up to not ever judge. How can we have a functioning society if the mental health of all of the inhabitants is on the edge? Humans make up society and humans judge.

Judgment is okay. I don't really want that to be my opinion because I fear that people will read that and then judge me as uncaring or wrong. But I know I judge and I feel it would be wasy too hypocritical to say that judging is wrong. Everyone does it, and I am a part of the masses here. It is absolutely healthy and perfectly acceptable to make judgments.

It is how we act on our judgments that matters.

It is a form of protection, of self-defense, to form judgments about those around us. It is insitinct, undeniable human nature. But when we take those judgments too far, when we voice our opinions to family or friends or the general public, we risk causing harm. That is how judging gets judged as a harmful thing. Forming judgments is okay; passing on those judgments can be dangerous.

All I want to make clear is: think about your ACTIONS.
Making judgments is human instinct for a lot of us--done without thinking, it cannot be helped.
Actions must be thought out. So think.

judgement
 

I judge, you judge, we all judge for produce.
We judge everyday. What to wear, what to say, where to go. Is this place safe, is it too far away. Who else will be there. Is there anything to do there.
We judge people. We judge teachers. Is she good? Is he bad? Is she easy? Is he hard? Are they fair? Do they give "too much work?"
We judge our friends. We have deemed them of a high enough quality to be our friends, otherwise we wouldn't associate ourselves with them. We judge our peers, and our co-workers, and our parents, and our relatives, and God, and Jesus, and Budha, and the Simpsons, and OJ Simpson, and orange juice, and peppers.
Is our judging appropriate? Who knows? But I don't think that's really the point. I think you have to think about two things. One, we are conditioned to judge. When we were still apes, we were eating raw meat and stuff. Then some ape who was borded, or particularly satanic, decided to burn the frlesh opf the animal he was eating. He said "oh, burnt flesh taste gooder than un-burnt flesh," and from then on he always cooked his food. (Thank God or we probably wouldn't be here right now.)
We are programed to judge, we have been judging for as long as we have existed. The key is to make educated, un biased judgments, which isn't al;ways easy. If we stay open minded, and try yto remove preconceptions from our heads then we will be able to make valuable judgments, even about poeple. Judging people, even to say this person seems shady, or this isn't a person I want to associate myself with is sometimes what you have to do to keep yourself safe.
Judgement is natural, and it can be most helpful.