You think you know someone...

Remove all ads!

Quite the opposite in fact. Anyone who doesn't judge someone based on looks is deficient, mentally. All of our physical features are recognized and judged within milliseconds by the brain (can't give exact numbers because I don't have my stupid textbooks with me). I think race is seen, recognized, and had all the social steretypes applied within 50 milliseconds.

 

Me and my friends always comment what we think people are like just by looking at them. Some people just look mean, funny, or whatever. However, we don't apply that label to them, but it is still fun to discuss.

 

Saber, I would agree with you and know that the brain functions as you describe. The problem is that for some people the entire judgement process stops at that point...in the first few seconds or fractions of a second.

Anyone who accepts the brain's automatic judgement without tempering that judgement with a little higher cognitive effort is not using their ability to judge others accurately or fairly to it's full potential....their judgement process is deficient.

 

I tend to lump everyone on these Boards (including me) into the stereotypical category of "computer game nerd" along with all the generic connotations that brings, even though I am well aware that there are one or two of you who aren't spotty, non-athletic, and socially awkward.

It's hard to shake a prejudiced impression once you get it into your head.

 

I'm not spotty and I'm not socially awkward (I don't like social situations but the people who I find myself forced to interact with in such situations never know it). Non-athletic? Spot on!

I've always found the saying "don't judge a book by its cover" to be a pretty bad metaphor because, if there is one thing I judge books by, it's their cover. When I walk into a bookshop and browse looking for something to read I don't judge books by their writing (I haven't read them yet), or other people's recommendations (unless one has already been mentioned to me and happens to appear), so the only thing I have to go by is the cover. It's the same when you meet people. You don't know them yet and unless you have a common friend who has introduced you because he knows you will get along (as opposed to because you both just happen to be there) the only thing you can go by to decide if it's worth your time and energy to get to know them is the proverbial cover. If I had to go to the effort of getting to properly know every single person I briefly met and spoke with before deciding I should continue to speak to them or just forget they exist I would have to quit my job and probably stop sleeping too.

 

I worked most of my life as a sales guy and one of the first rules is NEVER judge people by first appearances. I've interacted with thousands of people and they will always surprise you. They are very seldom what they appear to be. But it's easy to find out about them though, since people love to talk about themselves, so give them every chance to do so, if you wish to win them over.

That I've spent time around Tony Robbins.

Sports are great. Whenever I have trouble falling asleep, I just put a sports program on TV and I'm asleep in no time (it doesn't matter what it is, since they almost all work). I especially catch up on my sleep when the Olympics come around. In fact, just the hearing "The Olympics" makes me sleepy. So does NASCAR: Watching rednecks drive around in circles puts me to sleep even faster than televised golf. However, basketball tends to keep me awake. There's always one exception to the rule.

 

I'm not too sure what people think of me- I've never really made the effort to find out. I suspect that I'd rather not know anyway.That said, most people do tend to assume that I'm English when they hear me speak- my accent is apparently 'posh'. I do get quite a few comments on my hair- long, curly and very much red. Kinda helps me stand out in a crowd, although I'm thinking of cutting it soon.

I guess I make up part of SP's athletic population. As most people seem to be much more inclined to watch than participate, I may well be something like a third.

 

I don't think it's possible, or indeed advisable, to NOT judge people by their appearances.

Anyways, I'm Asian, so I guess that influence a lot of people's first thoughts about me. They seem to assume my English sucks, but generally theirs suck more than mine. When people get to know me they tend to forget I'm Asian at all and claim I'm practically Kiwi, which, I suppose, is true.

 

Me? Depends on the face I'm wearing...

Last week a random alcoholic asked if I've been to jail, or if I've been to army based on my looks.

Usually though, I'm just joe average. Average height, average weight and body build, generic, indistinguishable clothes, average hair length and colour, no piercings, no tattoos, no larger scars...etc.

A beard. For now, but that can be shaved off any time.

If there'd ever be a need for it, I'll blend in like a drop of water into milk...

 

I tend to get a fair bit of harrassment based on my looks

I tend to wear dark clothing and prefer to wear leather and/or spiked jewellery, I don't wear much makeup and usually carry a bag with me and possibly a walking stick. It's nothing to do with trying to look 'dramatic' or 'hard' it's what I like the look of and what I feel comfortable wearing. As a result if I am around town I can get harrassed alternatively by groups of youths and the elderly. Despite generally the elder folk tend to like me on first impressions.

I am also short, I walk with a limp more often than not have insanely fluffy hair and a front tooth that sticks out at an annoyingly comical angle overall, I'm generally taunted for one thing or another.

It's even worse if I'm in the wheelchair I've literally been to a place one day speaking perfectly fine ro someone and the next day been in the chair and had the same person talk to me like I'm a retard. I get taunted by drunks and chavs, if I'm in a shop people will lean on my chair or even just push me out the way as if I'm an inconveniant object. Even my friends and family get distressed seeing the ways some people will treat me when they see me in a chair.

Either way, most people will freely admit when they know me that I'm not the person they expected when they first met me. Apparently I can look dramatically different from one day to the next anyway that a couple of people have met me for the first time more than once

 

i'm loud from the start and generally pretty funny so people don't make many mistakes with that. i look really young though so although i turn 25 this year, maybe 5% of the people i meet correctly guess my age without me giving the hint that i've already finished my undergrad. i usually get the 19-21 guess around 90% of the time. from people younger than me mostly lol.

oh and apparently i look like a "sweet" kid. more fool them though this notion is disabused the first time the new acquaintance hangs out with me when alcohol is around

 

You're complaining because people think you're 5 years younger? My neighbour called in the other day, talked down to me and asked to speak to my mother. Apparently she thought I was thirteen. She was rather embarrassed when I told her my age and that I haven't lived with my parents for longer than I can remember

That said she's a very nice and friendly neighbour, so I didn't mind.

 

Awww...likkle Ziad

 

LOL, wow, thirteen? She probably was very embarrassed when you told her your real age!

Me, I'm usually mistaken for someone older. I even rented a movie that had a 18 year old only tag when I was twelve (no no, it was From Dusk 'till Dawn, not a porno! Get your minds out of the gutters, people!!). I was usually the one who wasn't asked an I.D. card when we went out to bars, although I was the only one underaged... mouahaha

 

Heh, I've been out drinking with groups that had underage people in it, and every single time they made it in without being IDed and I usually get asked for mine. It was particularly funny on my 25th birthday, when I was the oldest person in the group and also the only to get IDed.

 

@ziad

I know the feeling haha. I'm also the oldest (albeit youngest looking as well as shortest) in my group so before my friends actually turned 18, they'd always send me in to the club first and once I got carded, we'd all get in no hassles because the bouncers probably thought: "man, if this kid is 18, these guys are for sure".

I turn 25 in November but friends of mine who now work in the U.S or are taking postgrad studies tell me that I'd still get carded every time if I lived there.

Still, from 28 -> 13?? Even I've never had an "age reduction" that large

 

i'm usually mistaken for someone older, usually around 24-27 because of the beard stubs i guess

other than than that, just a bit bigger than average build, i'm 1,87 m and about 90 kg, a bit chubby and bald on my head, i yea ind i've also had a receding hairline since i was 15 or something, might help on the age thing i guess.

to most people i seem outgoing, though i hate being places with more than a few people i don't know very well, also why i tend to drink a lot if i'm at places where i don't know most of them.
i also try to avoid these situations as best i can

i believe i would also fall in the category of socially awkward

 

I envy you. I've always been mistaken as someone older. I could probably be reasonbly ID'ed as in my late twenties despite the fact I'm only 20.

And as a counterpoint I don't get IDed when I go to the casino or buy alcohol. It's distressing!

How the hell could you look 13 though? Don't you have facial hair?