The Judging Machine

April 19, 2009 – 5:57 pm

Around the year 1640 AD in France, René Descartes noticed that he was thinking. From this he concluded: “I think, therefore I am.” Descartes was a mathematician and a very important philosopher in the West.

Even though we are not philosophers, we are often asked to define our existence by making ‘I’ statements. We are forced to answer questions like these: “What is your favorite color? What hair style do you look best in? Do you want to get married? What subject do you want to study in school? What are your plans for the future?” And here is the most persistent question of all: “What do you think about that?”

We are expected to carve our personal identities out of solid stone, for the world yields up nothing without a struggle. We are supposed to become separate, self-reliant individuals.

I would say that the fundamental ‘I statement’ of an independent adult must be: “I’ll decide things for myself by thinking about them” or “I think, therefore I’ll be the judge of that.” As I go through the process of perceiving myself as different from all others, I acquire what is called good judgment and confidence in my own powers of discrimination. And part of that process is that I come to believe that I am right. It follows logically that you must be wrong.

How can this nonsensical state of affairs be the truth? This state of affairs is the truth because the human brain is hard-wired to make judgments automatically, like a machine.

In other words, we are judgmental because of the way our brains work.

Let me give you an example. I see someone in the street.  If I don’t like something about her clothes, I may think: “Why can’t people look in a mirror before they go out of the house? What’s wrong with them?” Seeing and judging (perception and interpretation) take place simultaneously—and that is our basic dilemma as human beings. Our judgments fill our minds with negative thoughts, blocking any enjoyment and harmony in our lives.

By the time we reach adolescence, therefore, we may dislike the entire circle of people we know. “My boyfriend loans money to his friends, who don’t pay him back. He’s an idiot. School is boring and the other kids are repulsive. I dropped out of high school.” Until, to be honest, there is no one left for us to admire or love. The writer J.D. Salinger created a fictional character like this in his novel, The Catcher in the Rye. This is the perfect book to read about this state of mind.  The main character is a teenager named Holden, who hates everyone he knows. This novel was first published in English in 1951 and has been translated into most of the world’s major languages. I recommend it to you most highly.

Most people learn not to blurt out their judgments in public, of course. But we have been taught it’s okay to dislike people—in the secret recesses of our own mind.

It is true that we all need to define ourselves through making ‘I’ statements. We all need discernment in order to make good choices for ourselves. But the ultimate statement of the discriminating mind will not be, “I think, therefore I’ll be the judge of that.” A wise person says: “Despite what I’m thinking, I know that I do not know.”

And it is good to reach that point, because it means we can remember all the times we thought we knew the truth, only to find out later how wrong we were.

Judging is nothing but a bad habit. The way to overcome any bad habit is by learning something new. In my opinion, you can take charge over the judging machine that is your brain by making a decision to be a happier person.

For example, you might make a practice of saying this to yourself when you wake up in the morning: “I set the intention to be happy today.” Maybe this sounds too simple, but it really works. It does not require more money, a better job, a different spouse, or going to live in another place. My brain may be hard-wired to judge and suffer the consequences of negative thinking, but I am not a machine. I am not a robotic creature. I have decided to change my mind. I have decided to view life differently.

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” as the expression goes. That means that when a person decides that there is a better way to live, he or she will find a way to do so.

Some Questions for Discussion:

1. Does a person need an individual identity?
2. Have you ever had an identity crisis, a time when you were not sure who you were in relation to other people?
3. Do you have a strong identity from your family or from your religion?
4. Do you have a strong identity from your job or profession?
5. Do you find it hard to make ‘I statements’ to pass tests of proficiency in English?
6. Do you have any idea why Descartes felt he had to prove that he existed?
7. Have you ever changed your life by making a decision?
8. Have you ever changed your life by setting an intention?

Photo credit: The graphic image of the robotic woman is from an ad for Svedka vodka.

Copyright © 2009 Barbara A. English All rights reserved.