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I think the first thing we need to all do is be open to actually caring enough about any random person and being open to them and essentially taking an interest in them. We of course would never completely understand another person but we can take interest in other people.
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why would you post a picture of two middle aged asian women here to underscore your question?
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why would you post a picture of two middle aged asian women here to underscore your question?
you black people should just admit your insecurities and say "why can't black people get ahead"?
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I am a person born in 1947. I was never taught that I was "better" than anyone. I lived in town were almost every one worked for General Electric. Parts of my community have changed so much, that I don't recognize them any more and it saddens me beyond belief.I tried to ignore and push the new people away. They were simply different.They were louder, dressed different. behaved different. You get the picture. They were "different". The story of what changed my mind about getting to know these people is not important.The important part was that I really liked many of these "new" people.Some, well I wish they were not here.This if life. Things change. We can isolate ourselves into a living hell or reach out to EACH other and see what happens.I realized that the universe lost the book I wrote " The World According to JJG" A smile, looking into the eyes of someone can be the greatest gift you can give. Thank You for listening to my thoughts.....
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we should try to leave each other be when we dont understand. dont always assume that individuals need YOUR understanding. they were doing just fine without you!
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Of course we should!
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Of course we should!
Everyone is an individual and "special". But there is a growing (and disturbing) trend whereby we can fancy ourselves SO individual and SO "special" that we fortify the lie that we cannot understand others, cannot truly know others, perhaps cannot even relate to others so why even try.
We truly become castaways totally isolated on the island of self: lost in a sea of Humanity rather than being a contributing part of it.
We have much more in common with others -- and points of relating and mutual understanding -- than we do in difference. The differences are there. Cherish them. But never fall for the lie that you cannot understand why another person did something or thinks something if you really try and have a pure motivation that will let them also be an individual rather than just a function/shadow of you.
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In my opinion, everyone is justified in the way they behave and the way they interact and react to situations. I knew this person in school who was always very shy and never really talked about anything in their life. I was close to this person and it used to frustrate me that he never shared his life, meanwhile I, being a very open person, talked about my past and present often. It wasn't until I finally convinced him to tell me his past that I understood why he was so guarded about his life, which explain why he was shy and unwilling to share. Being a person that has had many situation that have affected they way I view things, I never want to be judged by the way I behave and handle situations. Everyone has their reasons for being the way they are. I do my best to not judge people because I have no idea what they have been through to make them who they are. If we just all were to take a step back and try to grasp the fact that we are all victims of our circumstances I think that we could have a better outlook towards people we don't quite understand.
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Maybe we should try to understand other people by " walking a mile in their shoes ", not just studying a lifestyle, but trying to understand what influences shape them before passing a quick & hasty judgement on them.
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Maybe we should try to understand other people by " walking a mile in their shoes ", not just studying a lifestyle, but trying to understand what influences shape them before passing a quick & hasty judgement on them.
Does this sound practical ?
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If you begin your understanding with the common ground of being a human being, what more is there to "understand?" We'll only understand our perspective in this world but that should not prohibit us from learning from one another. We can learn daily from new cultures and gain a new perspective on particular situations by listening. Maybe we can never fully "know" someone but we should strive for that euphoria. It only makes us better as individuals.
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Every individual is a continually evolving creature which makes it pretty hard to really “understand” anyone except in mostly superficial ways. Since we can’t really understand where someone is coming from for the most part, the best thing to do is try not to judge.
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I'm definitely one of those people who think that all you CAN do throughout life is to try and understand youself, and by extension, others. I think the only way to fully discover who you are, you have to try and find what others are...and break past preconceptions in order to do that
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Understanding others helps us better understand ourselves.....deep, deep inside we really are very much alike.
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I already understand rational, peaceful, and productive people. 'Knowing' someone isn't necessary when it is clear that they have made a point to know themselves and demonstrate that accomplishment by contributing to society rather than resigning to burden it with their bullshit.
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I already understand rational, peaceful, and productive people. 'Knowing' someone isn't necessary when it is clear that they have made a point to know themselves and demonstrate that accomplishment by contributing to society rather than resigning to burden it with their bullshit.
Often, the people we are forced to "know" by the media are the Loons and it's put forth that there /must/ be some lesson to be extracted from determining why a man would drive into an underground parking lot and detonate his cargo in a suicidal mission. I can't learn anything from the story of that jagoff. Tell me the story of a shallow lawyer that hangs up his lucrative practice and goes into the inner city to teach children how to understand themselves in the world. Again, this story would not really allow me to 'know' the lawyer, but it could inspire me to know myself.
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I don't know about more understanding, but I think we need more people to just accept that not everyone is going to think or act alike. Acceptance is an easier task than understanding.
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In general I think we tend to be a bit lazy when it comes to trying to understand people from outside our comfort zone...
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In general I think we tend to be a bit lazy when it comes to trying to understand people from outside our comfort zone...
acknowledging that we barely get to know who we are before we die is a necessary adjunct to learning how to relate and understand people.
I love Chris Rock on one aspect - " All black men have about ten white friends - but white men only have one black friend".
cross cultural understanding can be so rewarding -
spend time in a foreign country and you get to feel that truth....
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yes. I wish we could. and I hope we will. I think, as humans, it is one of our flaws to assume everybody else somehow experiences life just like "we" do. but people don't. and I don't think we can ever truly "understand" another person unless we take that in consideration. and stop assuming that ours is the 'right' way, and that just because someone else thinks differently, or does some things differently, or lives thier lives differently that 'they' are necessarrily wrong. we never really know what "makes" a person what and who they are.
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yes. I wish we could. and I hope we will. I think, as humans, it is one of our flaws to assume everybody else somehow experiences life just like "we" do. but people don't. and I don't think we can ever truly "understand" another person unless we take that in consideration. and stop assuming that ours is the 'right' way, and that just because someone else thinks differently, or does some things differently, or lives thier lives differently that 'they' are necessarrily wrong. we never really know what "makes" a person what and who they are.
but you seem to be making a good start ;-)
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Absolutely. But we must also realize our limitations. Some folks aren't ready or can't process ideas that challenge them or their dogma and you reach a standstill. It's probably more important for us to figure out how to communicate better with one another and share ideas. It's kind of a bummer that with all of the communication mediums, we're actually taking steps back in how we communicate. I'm optimistic though. Once we can start blending our ideas, shedding the archaic and moving towards the progressive, things will be a whole lot better on this planet.
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