Be holistic in our view of others
Summary
- If we only see one aspect of someone, we may not make an accurate judgement of them
Details
- This simplification of someone can make us stereotype of categorize someone incorrectly
- humans are complex and not easily understood
References
Quotes
HOLISTIC ATTITUDE. A great way to mis-see people is to see only a piece of them. Some doctors mis-see their patients when they see only their bodies. Some employers mis-see workers when they see only their productivity. We must resist every urge to simplify in this way. The art historian John Richardson, Pablo Picasso’s biographer, was once asked if Picasso was a misogynist and a bad guy. He would not let his subject be oversimplified or robbed of his contradictions. “That’s a lot of nonsense,” he replied. “Whatever you say about him—you say that he’s a mean bastard—he was also an angelic, compassionate, tender, sweet man. The reverse is always true. You say he was stingy. He was also incredibly generous. You say that he was very bohemian, but also he had a sort of up-tight bourgeois side. I mean, he was a mass of antitheses.” As are we all.