Why do we judge and what does it mean?

Judgement is an interesting word, with a host of quite different definitions in the dictionary. What does it mean to you? Many people immediately fix negative connotations to the word, despite the fact that it can be applied in many a positive context. (For instance he accurately judged the distance, he has fine judgment etc). Perhaps the word is often synonymous with the negative because of the emotional reaction that so easily occurs when we feel that we are being judged critically by someone else. In fact research suggests that humans experience such a strong reaction when this happens that it bypasses the rational entirely and there is at first purely an emotional response. Namely guilt, then we shift towards repelling the judgment, and then to defensiveness. The effect of a perceived critical judgment is usually that the person stops listening and trust is broken, thereby making the judgment itself counterproductive. In many cases those who sit in judgment often don't feel particularly great themselves either. The initial feeling of power is quickly replaced by one of guilt and distaste. Why do we judge? Very often we find that we are judging people with different values to our own, those who dress, behave or speak differently to us. If we are honest, when we judge others it usually reflects more about our own values and our own feelings about ourselves than anything else. Perhaps it comes as a form of comparison, or as a byproduct of low self esteem in a certain area. If we are able to be truly happy and accepting of ourselves, a natural outcome is for us to be able to respect others who are different to ourselves. Let's think also about how it feels to be judged. If I think of examples of when I have felt most judged I can make a couple of observations. One is that it tends to bother me only if it concerns something about which I am already lacking in confidence, thereby implying that when the judgment of others is critical it hits a nerve when it may also be shared in part within my subconscious or even conscious self. The other is that I often feel judged when others have said nothing. In this case I perceive a judgment because of something that they are witnessing concerning me. It is possible that my perception is far wide of the mark, and again it is likely that the main reason that I feel critically judged is because a small part of me is experiencing that judgment myself. Judgement, when critical, forms little positive purpose (except perhaps in the courts) and as such if we can learn to release judgment about ourselves and others, we are likely to feel much happier and devote our energies to much more productive pursuits.