huntblog

Choices
Every day we make decisions that affect other people. These choices are made using thh wisdom we have, and our personal character, and sometimes we make bad choices, sometimes we make good choices. Sometimes I find, it is difficult to know whether choices we make are bad, or if they are good. We walk a fragile grey line of uncertainty, since sometimes the decisions we make have affects we do not see or know about.

In particular, choices that affect others can be confusing and confounding. The choices we make reflect who was are, people's opinions of us are changed by the decisions we make in what we say and do. Sometimes we are aware of this process, and sometimes we are unaware. Think for a moment about everyone you spend time with in a day, everyone you interact with. That person's perception of you is shaped daily by the choices you make when you are relating to them, when you are around them. Sometimes what goes on in their heads is a logical, fair process, an accurate representation of you. Sometimes it is not. No matter what our goal is in life, with everything we see and do, people's perceptions and profiles as to how they see us are being built and modified daily.

How we are seen in someone else's eyes also affects other people and things. For example if you skateboard along a path and knock an old lady over, that old lady may have a negative pre-disposition towards skateboarders in the future. This is partially stereotyping, but also a natural human reaction to avoid harm, both emotional and physical. It is easier to be cautious, or to not get emotionally attached to the wrong sort of person, than it is to cure the hurt that may arise from either situation.

To constantly think about all these things, and to wonder what is going on in the minds of the people around us when they are not speaking is to go crazy, especially since we will more often than not be wrong. I do think it would be good though, for the world to be more aware of the unspoken reactions to it's choices, and that they are just as valid as the spoken ones.

posted by hunt @ 2:18 PM