me...

Of note today is the near-simultaneous loss of both my website and my computer; this entry sponsored entirely by blind faith.

Two recent conversations have had me thinking about the ability to characterize other people, to accurately diagnose someone's strengths, without imposing personal judgements. We often speak of this skill as if it were a defining personality trait: Ralph is tall, a skilled bowler, and a good judge of character. This strikes me as a dangerous situation. Homo Sapien is a social species, and we all rely on that which others tell us, be it fact or opinion, as a basis for our decision-making and our self-perception. If we are not constantly discerning the honest, founded perspectives from the misguided, erroneous perspectives, we might make profoundly detrimental choices and maintain a completely false self-image. As i perceive that many of my friends are forever being called stupid or hurtful or depressed or crazy simply because their beauty refuses to be categorized, i desperately wish that i could help them learn to gauge. i think i can credit most of who i am today to the friends i've made since elementary school, friends who valued and encouraged the things i felt important. This all, of course, re-stresses the necessity of escaping context. We must not choose our actions and friends because they are convenient or less scary, we must choose them because they honestly perceive the truth in ourselves.

posted by Arthur @ 2/09/2002 11:38:00 PM

Saturday, February 09, 2002