We often tend to judge people by their appearance, overlooking the depth of their inner world.

Beyond Appearances: The Challenge of True Understanding

We often tend to judge people by their appearance, overlooking the depth of their inner world. This leads us to label individuals based solely on stereotypes and common assumptions, instead of trying to understand what a person truly is. There is an irony in this: those who judge only by the surface are confident in their assessments, even though they cannot see beyond the impenetrable shell each of us possesses. Such an approach, while seemingly simple and straightforward, limits our understanding of a person’s true essence. Ultimately, to truly understand someone, we must abandon preconceived templates and learn to perceive their individuality without prejudice. This is the challenge of modern society: to accept that true knowledge of others requires a deep, attentive, and open approach that allows us to see the uniqueness of each soul beyond the external mask.

Why do people often attribute qualities or traits to others that they do not actually possess, and what contributes to this?

People often assign qualities to others that they do not actually have because our judgment of a person is largely based on external characteristics and stereotypes rather than a true understanding of their inner world. Every individual remains invisible to others within their own impenetrable shell, denying observers the opportunity to truly know them. As a result, we tend to “judge” people based on universally accepted standards and expectations, passing verdicts based solely on visible traits and appearances.

This approach leads to a paradox: “the one who sees less knows more than the one who sees.” In other words, a person who relies on superficial observations might confidently predict someone else’s actions, despite never having looked into the essence of their character.

Supporting citation(s):
"Others might say of him that he is kind, hot-tempered, gifted, intelligent, brave, sensitive, resourceful, etc., while if he were asked about himself, he could say nothing. ... Clearly—in order to know, one must not see; one only needs to 'judge', that is, pass verdicts based purely on external features. Because of this, knowledge has always been that of the general, the surface, overlaying reality. In fact, nature has arranged it so that one person completely fails to notice, or dare to know, another. Each of us is forever hidden from prying eyes within the completely impenetrable shell of our body. And those who predict our actions do not truly know, cannot know, and do not want to know us. To say that a person is brave, intelligent, noble, etc. ultimately tells us nothing about them. It only means to evaluate, measure, and weigh their significance according to time-honored standards, i.e., to 'judge' them." (source: link txt)