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CoachRabbitPerson760
We judge or make assumptions by the way people look. I can say…
We judge or make assumptions by the way people look. I can say this because research tells us this. After reading Chapter 14 please read below, answer the discussion questions & respond to a classmate’s post.
If you don’t know her, read a bit about Amanda Knox – a pretty young American, studying abroad. She was accused, tried and acquitted of murder. Read this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Knox
to get a bit of the background. Review my questions below and answer on the discussion board.
Amanda Knox appearing on NBC’s Today Show.
In 2009 Knox was convicted in an Italian court of killing her roommate. Her conviction was overturned in 2011, but then, in 2014, she was found guilty again.
Question: Because of her beauty, many observers find it difficult to believe that Knox is actually guilty. Why, one might think, would someone this beautiful have to resort to crime to achieve her ends? Do you believe that you/we “judge a person by what they look like”— please share some examples of how we may do this, and how it can be dangerous. How can judging someone work to their advantage or work against them for job opportunities? Do we believe it’s OK to make these judgements… why?
Also, I would like a response to this please??
I think when someone is perceived as attractive, other people perceive them as more likeable than the average looking person. Perceiving an attractive person as likable upon first impression is almost an instinct and it usually takes intentional thought to judge a person from an unbiased perspective. I think we do this on a larger scale with race or class. For example, if someone is dressed nicely with higher-end clothing items or accessories, we have a different initial perception of them vs someone who is dressed in worn down sweats and messy hair. In addition to this, we also gravitate towards and like people who mirror us. Usually, if we find someone we identify with in a crowd, we are immediately drawn to them because they remind us of us, even if we don’t know them. This way of thinking can be dangerous if we are not aware of our thoughts and take control of our actions. As the Knox case shows, not challenging this way of thinking can allow bad people to get away with crime or other harmful actions simply because they are attractive. On the contrary, this way of thinking can force us to miss out on great people because our initial physical judgement of them is negative. I think making judgements is okay to some extent because it is part of human nature. However, we must be cognizant of the judgments we are making and why we are making them. One should always be open to challenging the judgments they make and allow themselves to be proven wrong.
