late night ramblings...

there has been some thoughts bouncing around in my head and I have been meaning to write them down. so here goes a try. I was talking to a friend the other day and somehow we were talking about people's perception. well that's what I think it was about. I told her that sometimes it amazes me how people's perception can change, or how it can be bias by whatever influence or whatever knowledge they have of a person. I guess thats when you start forming opinions and make judgements of people. for instance it can be something as simple as your name. From what I have heard, when I was born, my mom had wanted to name me after one of my grandfathers. Either Roman after my mom's dad, or Robert after my dad's dad. Well obviously she picked Robert for me, instead of Roman. Why? I have no idea. And I can't ask her. Was I too pink and she thought that I didn't favor the Mexican side? Did she think I would have had a hard time with a name like Roman, which is obviously less common then Robert? Whatever the reason is, it is unknown to me. So when I tell this story to others, they automatically say "Oh well I can't picture you named Roman. You don't look like a Roman." Which is true. But what does a guy named Roman supposed to look like? Latin? See that bugs me. The reason why they can't "picture" me as a Roman, is because I have never been and they don't know any different. They can't visualize me with a different name, because for the most part they never have, and will never have too. I will always be named Robert. And even if I went tomorrow and changed my name to Roman, it still wouldn't fit. I'm sure they would forget and call me Robert. And that's what bugs me. How people's perception is affected by what they know and by their own judgements. See if I was go up to a person who has never met me or I was introduced to someone and said "Hi, my name is Roman" they would probably say "nice to meet you." Would they say "hmmm...you don't look like a Roman." Why not? Cause they have no prior knowledge of any other possible name I could have. They have no preconcieved knowledge or me, they have no information to tell them otherwise. And what bugs me isn't the fact that I think I should have been named Roman. That's not the point. The point is, you can judge someone from what you know, and what you know may be hear say or completely false. What if you heard something about someone that you had never met? And then when you did meet them, would that come into your mind and have any bearing on how you would treat them? To a point I think it would. And that's what just gets me. How someone's perception of a person or a situation can be completely off. How people act and react off of what they know, when what they know might be crap. How easy I think it is to percieve something that is not there, something that maybe was never there. I was once asked what my favorite word in the english language was. I would have to say my favorite word is "seems" because of what the definition is.

seem ( P ) Pronunciation Key (sm)
intr.v. seemed, seem·ing, seems

1.To give the impression of being; appear: The child seems healthy, but the doctor is concerned. 2.To appear to one's own opinion or mind: I can't seem to get the story straight.
3.To appear to be true, probable, or evident: It seems you object to the plan. It seems like rain. He seems to have worked in sales for several years.
4.To appear to exist: There seems no reason to postpone it.

What other word's meaning might not mean what it is at all? I don't know maybe it's just me, but that just fascinates me. And that brings me back to perception. How things can appear or how someone can percieve something, but depending on what they know or how they feel, it might be completely different then what someone else sees. I guess when it comes down to dealing with other people, perception is something that should be used carefully. It's true that some people can "read" others very well, that some can use their "perceptive powers" to really see the real person. To some that means seeing a beautiful person in a ugly exterior. And to others it's seeing the vice versa. But I think we have to be careful. To try and see someone, to try to precieve them, we have to be careful not to be bias or use our on opinions and judgements. "Judge not, lest you be judged." I think when it comes to humans, we will never have that down pact. We will never be able to judge someone without having bias or forming an opinion, no matter how hard we strive for that, it will elude us. But on a happy note, there is a positive side. Because all of us do see things differently it adds that much more to the picture. I think the fact that we all see different things in a situation, we can help each other. I'm sure someone at sometime has made you think of something in a way you hadn't? That's the beauty of humans being different, that we can help one another. As long as we don't judge and put our peceptions out there to influence people. Hehe...kinda like I'm doing now. Hehe. But am I influencing people? Who knows? I think a person will be influenced if they want to be. They have to agree to be in a way. Either way, I think I try not to pass judgements on people, because they might pass judgements about me. I guess there really is only one judge, and I'm glad, cause he will be fair. No not Judge Wopner. A little bit higher then him. So I guess that's what I needed to say. I actually have another rant about "they" but that will come later. Thanks for listening to me, you can all wake up now.