Dangerous Ground

I believe it is not possible to perceive others without catagorizing them in some way.

A study done on three-month-old babies wanted to explore when do infants start to catagorize. The infants were shown four sets of pictures. The pictures were shown to them in sets of two.
The first three pictures shown were of different cats. The cats were of various sizes and colors. The last set of pictures shown were a picture of a new cat and a new dog.

Upon seeing these pictures the infants stared for a long period of time at the dog, than they did at the cat. This preferential looking indicated that the infants had made a category for cats and not dogs.

This study was conducted by Peter Eimas and Paul Quinn. This study is in the book The Development of Children, 5th ed. by Cole, Cole, and Lightfoot.

This study shows that we are hard wired to catagorize. It's part of our survival skills. Just think what would happen if we thought lions were horses?

To me catagorizing people, places, and things is normal and we can't get away from it. However, the problem we face is when we start to judge. Our judgments can get us into trouble - depending on the situation.

For instance, cell phones come in many shapes and sizes. Therefore, we catagorize them in a variety of ways. Then we determine which one is suitable for us. We made a critical decision. This is a good thing.

Unfortunately, when we start to judge people we are treading dangerous grounds. It's perfectly natural to catagorize. Our brains can't help it.

The problem we encounter is when we start to judge a person based on what we see. Judgment leads into stereotyping and stereotyping leads to a person loosing their individuality.
We must be mindful of our behaviors when it comes to categorizing people and we must be willing to avoid stereotyping at all costs. We should always be thinking, "I need to treat people the way I want to be treated."