Why do we judge others?

I wrote this about a year ago as part of an English assessment; it was one of my favourite essays to write because I really didn't plan to ramble on about 'judgement' and I don't think it was actually the aim of assignment but I didn't like the way people at school acted towards others. It got me thinking about the way we perceive strangers, out of that strange little moment came this...

Why do we judge? What is in us, as humans, that makes us feel the need to judge people we find inferior? It happens so often, we don't even stop to think about the effect of our actions. With every new person we meet, we have a second to think, make up our mind about them. We base our “first impressions” on their appearance, the first sentence they say and the way they say it.

We judge people all the time: celebrities, neighbours, friends and strangers, without even realising it. Sometimes though, we have the will power to avoid saying out loud the things we really should be thinking. Sometimes we don't. Those moments are usually the times when they hear you whispering about them. Its shocking, I’m not going to lie and say, I never say anything, because I’d be a hypocrite, but I’m trying to be a nicer person by using my “inside voice”.

So the next time you see someone on the street who looks “strange” or “weird”, remember they have a story as well. Those people you’re judging are human beings not freaks on display. They have a life and a past, that they shouldn't be discriminated for. You don't know what’s happened to get them to get them there in the first place, maybe they didn't fight through all that, to be belittled and humiliated. It’s not right and it’s not fair.

Why do we do it? Judge people who are different? What’s so great about everyone being the same? The world would be boring, without loud, quiet, eccentric, charming, cheesy, funny or smart people. It makes life interesting. Be yourself, be unique, be different. Try it.