Prejudgement for Dummies

Prejudgement is a term that describes the act of forming an opinion or making a judgment about someone or something before having all the necessary information or evidence. It's like forming an opinion about a book just by looking at its cover or deciding whether you like an ice cream flavor without ever tasting it. Prejudgement usually happens when our brains quickly jump to conclusions based on our past experiences, assumptions, or stereotypes. It's like our brains trying to take a shortcut to figure things out, but sometimes it leads us to making unfair or biased decisions.

Imagine you meet a new student in your class who looks a little different than the other students and speaks with an accent you're not familiar with. Without talking to them or getting to know them, your brain might make assumptions or judgements about them based on their appearance or accent. That's prejudgement in action. It's important to remember that prejudgements are not always accurate and can lead to misunderstandings or unfair treatment.

To understand prejudgement better, let's break it down into two parts: "pre-" and "judgement." The "pre-" part means before, and "judgement" means forming an opinion or making a decision about something. So, when you put them together, "prejudgement" means making a judgment or forming an opinion about someone or something before having all the necessary information or evidence.

But why is prejudgement a problem? Well, it can prevent us from truly getting to know someone or something. It's like trying to solve a puzzle by only looking at a couple of pieces and assuming we know what the whole picture looks like. Prejudgements are like closing the door to understanding and empathy. They can lead to unfair treatment and discrimination, as we might treat someone differently based on our prejudiced opinion rather than giving them a fair chance.

So, it's important to try and avoid prejudgements. Instead, we should strive to keep an open mind and give people and things a fair chance before making conclusions. Just like how we need to read the entire book to truly understand its story or taste an ice cream flavor to decide whether we like it, we should gather all the information and get to know someone before forming an opinion. This way, we can make fair and unbiased judgments and foster a more inclusive and understanding world.