The nature of judgement

My last four journals have centered around judgement, and convey simply the act of judgement. They were inspired by my reading of The Fall. (Fantastic novel. Read it.) Also inspired by The Fall are my thoughts on the nature of judgement. It is condemned by many but unavoidable by all. It is something that we do instictively on some levels, but often is depicted as the device of the divine. What is judgement? The most basic form of judgement is simply for survival. We judge how far we are from objects. We judge the distance we need to move. We judge whether we should speed through the orange light or screech to a halt. We judge with very very simple things, and then we judge with things slightly more comlicated. We judge our peers and elders in instinctual self-preservation. Should I befriend this person? Can I trust them? Will they condemn me? Will I condemn them? How will our association affect others perception of me? Of course, this sort of judgement brings about stereotypes and broad generalizations. The human mind cannot survive without compartmentalizing, this is unavoidable. But judgement becomes more complex yet. Moral judgement is passed on people by the divine, the educated, the privileged, and in fact all. This sort of judgement can have lasting effects or not effect at all. To be behind bars, or free. To be yelled at, talked at, scolded, rewarded and looked up to. Judgement is everywhere and affects everything. To condemn judgement is to condemn yourself, everyone else, and everything else. It is necessary and unavoidable(so we might as well get good at it). In the Fall it is implied through the main character and narrator that all mankind spends the entirety of its existence avoiding judgement. It implies that everyone behaves out of the simply wish that they be judged in a positive manner, and will do anything to be judged as such. It addressed the fallacies of friendship and the futility of happiness, the lack of a universal purpose. It makes the point that the things we do in life are far outweighed by the things we fail to do; by decision, laziness, or ineptitude. With this view of the world, lying must run rampant. If everything is about the image of judgement, then no one will ever see past the canvases the story of our lives are painted on to see the truth of who we are without further analytical judgement based on little fact at all. Why do we avoid who are? If everyone is filth then why hide beneath a small gilded surface? If no one is filth, then what to lose by shredding the facade from view? I do not think that judgement should be avoided, but embraced. I think that one should be honest with oneself and embrace one's faults and ineptitudes, and be as critical and judgemental to one's own soul as one is to the rest of the world. One should never pass up a chance to do good, and one should understand that one's life is no greater than the next. Most importantly, one should paint the truth and only the truth on one's canvas, penitent and unashamed.