MAKING SOUND JUDGEMENTS WITHOUT DRAWING ERRONEOUS CONCLUSIONS

Making judgments without drawing conclusions is the hardest task we will ever have to apply in life. Although judgments and conclusions are closely related, they have unique characteristics when individually applied. To distinguish the difference between the two we must properly relate facts to our feelings and experiences. A JUDGEMENT allows us the opportunity to evaluate and make deductions based on experience or information. A CONCLUSION makes a definitive permanent explanation or expectation. The problem we have with many conclusions is whether or not they are supported by fact. Still, most of us will develop assumptions that reinforces our beliefs regardless of fact or truth. This can be regarded as or termed cognitive and/or confirmation bias. Just consider age old wives' tales and fables believed and embraced in the past. Thirteen has never been an unlucky number. Cracking our knuckles does not cause arthritis. Reading in dim light will not damage our eyes. Taking a bath while pregnant will not drown the fetus. However, a walnut can remove light furniture scratches and peanut butter will remove gum from hair. Everyone has to believe something! Whether we embrace superstitions or religious dogma it is a normal and natural thing to do. As we grow older, we learn and experience more. As a result, we are forced to abandon or redefine many of our beliefs to make sense of conflicting and confusing facts. This is called cognitive dissonance. We want to be sure that what we believe is actually true and therefore form our own logic to validate self-made theories. Is this where the saying comes from, "telling your own truth?" No one owns or possess their own truth. Maybe this is the response we give to fool ourselves that we are not embracing a lie? Many of us would rather fool ourselves rather than question or rebuild our embraced beliefs. What a fool believes he sees no wise man has the power to reason away. What seems to be is always better than nothing at all. Deception is the act of accepting a misunderstanding as truth or misapplying that belief incorrectly. To be deceived by anyone or anything we must first deceive ourselves. The application of knowledge and information is both an art and a skill that can be done incorrectly. The purpose of knowledge is to open our thinking to further enlightenment. Accumulated information is what that knowledge consists of. According to the Bible we are obligated to question things, prove all things; and hold fast to that which is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

---

POPULAR OPINIONS MAKE THE WORLDS GREATEST LIES!

Comparing similar things and circumstances is one of the most popular methods used in finding determinations and making judgments. Although comparisons are a great tool they cannot and should not be the only tool used in learning from what we experience in life. Comparing things allows us to feel, position and favor one thing over another through personal bias. Strong opinions tend to cause strong feelings.  Feelings form associations with experiences that we use as future guides. Remember, our sensory faculties tie directly into our feelings to warn and alert us of danger or opportunities in the environment. A disgusting smell warns us to leave the area, while an enchanting aroma alerts and beckons us to it. Is it correct to conclude that every "sweet" smell is an indication of opportunity and every "bad" smell indicates danger? Most soaps, cleaning products, deodorants and laundry detergents smell good, but you can't consume them.  Is that why we are warned to keep them out of the reach of children?  Unless some scent is added do most medicines have a neutral or foul odor? Does anybody like the smell of cod liver oil? When our air quality is bad why don't we always notice it? Without proper information, training or experience it is not uncommon to make a judgement that leads us to a faulty conclusion! This is why we have standards in both the natural and spiritual arenas of our existence. Our failure to acknowledge and embrace the spiritual aspect of life is costing us dearly.

Consider the recent scandals with college admissions, The Mueller Report, Cosby, R. Kelly, Jackson, Smollett, Spacey, Wynn and several presidents of The United States. How do we know what to think or how to react to the allegations presented against them. The answer is simple but not easy. Examine the facts not the people. Facts have no agenda people do.  Divorcing ourselves from the emotional ties that bind us and our judgement (feelings) conclusively is the first step in eliminating our own personal biases. Buying into people personally is an emotional investment "AND" we all hate losing a bet. This is why it becomes so hard to believe anything which violates the pictures we paint in our minds. If it doesn't match our stored images and memories it becomes very hard to swallow. When "real life" disrupts our "perceived life" we feel obligated to choose one side or the other. Why is that? Should our sense of loyalty surmount our duty to truth? Or are our feelings of pride so strong that we have issues with being wrong. It may be human nature or learned behavior, but it seems we all have a tendency to defend a position rather the reexamine it. An always, "ready to defend" attitude prevents us from examining ourselves objectively and embracing the healing of realization. We are only as sick as our secrets. We have the choice to pass judgment or of passing judgement.  The question remains, do we, have we or are we?

DO I, HAVE I, AM I

Do I have feelings
of pride so strong
that I have issues 
with being wrong?

Have I now reached
a certain place
that blinds my eyes
and hides my face?

Am - I - in - my 
self righteous sect
that make me "right" 
when I'm incorrect?

Or am I "right"
and all along
been in "this state"
where I belong.


Or will I  choose 
to sing the song: 
I'm always right
except when I'm wrong!

​

The process of making judgments is as natural as breathing. We reach conclusions through the judgment criteria we form from our life's experiences.  Conclusions work better when they are regarded as generally correct rather than definitely concise.  Judgments are timely and specific to circumstances that can change in time. Judgments relate actions to cause. Conclusions relate actions to final effects. Judgments are evaluations explained. Conclusions are final verdicts. One characteristic of a conclusion is its resistance to change. Yet any accurate conclusion must include everyone, and everything involved as somehow connected in some way! We can better understand the way judgments and conclusions work through time. Our present judgments can never be regarded as conclusive. Judgments can be both accurate and predictive but never totally conclusive. In life, the lessons of our experiences express themselves through subconscious conclusions. Judgments are the parents of conclusions; without them we cannot negotiate through life. Impaired judgment creates faulty conclusions. It is easy to conclude that many of our past judgments caused most of our present crisis's. We must address the processes that bring us to reach our conclusions. We draw conclusions based on beliefs. Judging by the way we treat our planet we must conclude that we believe that we can continue to disregard our environment. This conclusion is based strictly on our present actions. Conclusions based on poor judgments yield inadequate or inaccurate responses. In the final analysis we must all realize that we are limited by the accuracy of our assessments and interpretations of facts. We cannot deny the impressions or effects our judgments have upon our shared world.  Don't think for a moment that nature is not fighting back in its on effort to survive.  Instinctual Survival functions all the way down to the microorganism level. Haven't we all heard of how plants and trees secrete various substances to fight off diseases or insects. What happens when we become the disease? Are we so naive to believe that nature as a whole, although transitioning slowly, is not taking counter measures to survive during this sixth mass extinction? Think again! Judging by the way we act few of us really believe that we are in any imminent danger of that. But that's a judgment we'll make without reaching any conclusions!