Frank Lampard is the new manager of Chelsea. An ex-player for the team, he is generally popular with the fans. Recently his team lost at home 2-1 to Liverpool, a rival, and he and his team got a standing ovation at the end.
A former manager of the club ridiculed the fans for this reception, saying that they would have booed his team for the same result in his time, and warning the fans that this attitude of glorifying defeats could transform their club from a big one to a mediocre one very quickly.
This is an example of the same people (the Chelsea fans) seeing the same action (losing 2-1 to Liverpool) in two different ways (standing ovation/booing).
Similarly – two people will regularly see the same actions by the same person in two different ways, depending on their perception of that person. You only have to look at the world of politics anywhere in the world to see many examples of this.
The quote in the title of today’s blog is from Hamlet, and is particularly insightful.
And without getting into a philosophical debate about ethics, and arguing about whether things can be inherently good or bad, it’s clear that our opinions, pre-dispositions and biases play a big part in how we judge the actions of others, and how others judge our actions.
And while we can’t do much about others judging us, it would do us all some good to be aware of what exactly is affecting the ways in which we look at others.
PS Winners from yesterday’s competition are Elaine Coghill (Facebook comp) and Emma Purcell (subscriber comp). Congratulations!
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