On Pre-Judging

I like to think I am an a non-judgmental, fair-minded person. Whether I truly am is, I suppose, a matter for others and for God to determine more definitely. However, one trait that I can say positively that I possess is that I rarely make assumptions about people and things and when I do, I am open to changing them. My reasons for bringing this up today is that several recent encounters have forcefully shown me the dangers and power of humanity's innate sense of categorizing thoughts.

Humans think in categories. We have, for example, a category called cat into which we stuff the various sensory imput objects we encounter that correspond to our notion of cat; that is, a furry mammal with whiskers, four legs, a long tail, slit-shaped pupils, and a particular propensity for cat nip. Now, this definition is not precise and like my earlier discussion about clouds, these notions can be ambiguous for there are indeed cats with no fur, short tails, even missing limbs. Note, however, that in these cases the specific cat in question is usually referred to as a "shorttailed cat" or a "hairless cat" indicating that we know these particular instances of "cat" are at the fuzzy margins of our categorical thinking.

Our minds tend to follow heuristics, that is, rules of thumb that help us speed up our thinking. In this way, we do not have to continually analyze everything we see; we come to take certain things for granted. We do not often even notice things that are the same; our brain continually looks for movement and changes in our environment. This propensity not to notice those things that are similar leads us to often over emphasize differences we perceive in those we meet. This leads us further to construct this person (or these persons) as the "other." We neglect the ways we are similar because our brains are drawn to the exotic.

As I mentions before in connection with Asperger's Syndrome, I have the frequently annoying ability to notice everything all the time. I see the mundane again and again and am constantly fascinated by it. I have read in the scientific literature on Asperger's that persons with it are frequently far less likely to be prejudiced because they are less likely to think of things in terms of categories. The more severe the Asperger's/PDD/Autism, the less likely the individuals is to think in categories. At severe enough levels, this constant inability to filter sensory input is actually disabling. Some scientists studying spectrum disorders believe that this difficulty in censoring input is one of the primary aspects of autistic behavior and that therefore teaching such individuals to filter by helping them learn proper behavior and what is expected will aid in their integration.

It is clear, then, that this categorical thinking is actually essential for us to function. Filtering out the normal keeps us sane by allowing our minds look for deviations from expected patterns that might be dangerous. This same pattern-searching behavior leads us often to see connections between disparate things. Hence we see faces in rocks or ascribe human emotions to animals (though personally, I believe animals do have emotions that are comparable to human's).

It seems that we are doomed to pre-judge, though I believe we can limit its more deleterious effects if we remain cognizant of our own biases. That is the only key. We can never eliminate categorical thinking and we should not, since it essential for sanity, but we can be aware of it and by checking our emotions and biases (like the good stoic philosopher have enjoined us), we can be sure that we are never motivated by prejudice and bias.