Bah humbug

In the psychometric type-testing of the Myers-Briggs test, traits are judged on four dichotomies. The pairs are Extrovert/Introvert, Sensing/Intuition, Thinking/Feeling, and Judgement/Perception. The system uses a series of questions to determine where on each scale a person falls.

For this post, I want to talk about the last scale, Judgement/Perception. Those who have a preference to Judge can be said to need answers. They want a solutions to the world around them. Those who have a preference to Perceive can be said to want to keep their options open. They want to allow for further data and/or deliberation.

We all perceive and we all judge. Naturally, doing one too much is a bad idea. Although neither one is "better" than the other, I'm going to completely slam one of them in a certain context. Bear with me.

Which of these is more like you when you watch something (let's keep it to taiko) that you don't like:

• You question what it is exactly you don't like about it.
• Assuming it was done correctly, you try to figure out what the composer's/artist's intentions are.
• You realize that it's just against your personal sense of aesthetics.

or...

• You make sure everyone around you knows how much you don't like it.
• You seek a group of people who feel the same and continue to be negative.
  
• You feel like you're better than the people you just saw.
• You can't find anything good about the group/song.

I'm guilty of some not-so-kind judging but there's one thing that really helps me stop and seek perspective. I ask myself, "what if our roles were reversed?" I wouldn't want to have people leave a show that I was in talking smack about me or my group; I would hope that they would be fair in assessing what they saw and leaving at least feeling there was something of merit.

Mind you, I enjoy when someone can say that they don't like something but articulate why. This shows thought and...wait for it...perception! I may not agree with you, but it helps me respect your opinion - hell, it may make me question my own!

For those who tend towards the negative side of things, I would like to put a call out there to use your inside voice so that the rest of us don't have to hear how much you didn't like *this* or why you can't stand seeing *that*. Some of us might actually have LIKED something you didn't, and not arguing with you doesn't mean we agree with you.

Also, this attitude tends to make people around you tend to not want to hear your opinion. It doesn't matter which side of the extreme you are, always mentioning the positive or always mentioning the negative, but it shows other people that your critical eye is lopsided. Why would I want to hear your opinion when all your other opinions have been the same?

We all judge. We all perceive. Next time you judge, maybe ask yourself what your initial impressions say about you, then go from there. It might be enlightening!