To Kill A Mockingbird Focus Activity

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Describe an everyday situation in which one person might judge another incorrectly. What things can interfere with making a fair judgement?

I think that one of the most common situations would be "cutting queue". Sometimes, especially at lunch period, the canteen is extremely crowded and the stalls are packed. Misunderstandings can occur between students as there are more than 1 queue per stall and sometimes people accidentally get in line in front of people who are queuing. Misunderstandings can also occur between stall vendors and students. For example, when I was in Primary School, a stall vendor accused me of cutting queue even though I had not, and I was forced to queue for food again.

I think that one of the largest factors that could interfere with judgement would be your impression of the person in question. If you have a bad impression, it is more likely that you would accuse him wrongly. Another factor would be your general mood during the incident. If you are tired or stressed, you would be more likely to make an incorrect judgement.

3 comments:

Ivan said...

I don't quite agree with your example of an incorrect judgement. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, judgement, from the root word judge, means an opinion through careful weighing of evidence and testing in premises.

The key word here is careful weighing. For the example you have given, I think it was more of a misunderstanding and a wrong decision than that of an incorrect judgement. This is because the stall owner could have been very busy and did not noticed what had actually happened. I believe that the stall owner made such an accusation and decision so that he could continue doing his business without any conflicts. After all, losing a customer is better than losing a queue of customers.

The stall vendor did not really made an incorrect judgement of you but rather had a negative impression.

Instead of using such an example like the one above, you could have related the example back to class or with friends and neighbours instead of people like the stall vendors, whom you would probably only converse with him once.

Kenneth said...

Umm yeah thanks Ivan for the comment :)But I think that judgement is basically an opinion. The stall vendor actually asked the people beside me if I had cut queue and he chose to believe them over me....but anyway your comment is great thanks :D

Unknown said...

Dear Kenneth,
I do not quite agree that "cutting queue" and people's opinion of whether you "cut the queue" is an appropriate example for the context of a fair judgement. In my opinion, a situation requiring fair judgement is, say when you are late for a projects meeting with your mentor due to unforeseen circumstances, then, when the mentor has to decide whether you are in the wrong, he has to make a fair judgement.

I agree that impressions and moods will affect whether a person will make a fair judgement, people should try to put these factors aside when making a judgement, but things are easier said then done. Another factor that may affect a person's judgement could be his experience, or circumstances. I feel that you could have elaborated more on how moods and impressions affect a person's judgement.

Regards,
Chong Kai En (2i106)

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