Celebrated and famous psychologist Sigmund Freud once said that the greatest motivator of humankind and human behavior is fear. And it never ceases to amaze me how society embraces this concept, albeit somewhat unconsciously.
Everyday, we pass judgment on someone, even if we don't even know whom he or she is actually like. You know the feeling. You may not even have to be actually seeing the person. Possibly you heard a story from a friend or a rumor that is spreading widely. Maybe even when you see what they have written.
Now, of course, many people will say here that they aren't prejudiced at all. And that is a load of crap. We are naturally born to judge what we like and don't like. It is something that we gain through the experiences in our lives and what we are exposed to. We cannot help it, since it is ingrained in us somewhat instinctively to discriminate. One such case is the classic fire example. When you were a small child, and your guardian told you not to touch the fire, whether it is the flame on the stove or somewhere else, what was the first thing you did? You touched it. And you got burned. What happened? You learned not to touch fire again. Why? You'd get hurt. And you don't want to get hurt. So? Don't touch the fire.
These experiences ? experiences that are essentially traced back to the concept of fear ? shape us. No doubt we all have had similar experiences other than the example I used to make this point. I myself happen to be prejudiced against grapefruit. Greatly against grapefruit. And maybe that is because of that silly diet I tried a few years ago that I was, forcibly, enforced to follow. What have I learned? Eating grapefruit everyday with a bit of cottage cheese and celery isn't a very nourishing meal every single day. Fe ...