Have you noticed how quickly you form an opinion of another person?

Within seconds, you have a clear idea of who they are and how they will behave – long before you really know the person.

Others observe our behavior as it manifests itself through speech, manner and body language. They judge what they hear and see in order to gain an idea of who we are: can we trust this person? is he dangerous? is he malicious? is he competent? etc. This assessment is based on our experience, prejudices, values etc. and aims to classify the person we are dealing with: Is this one of the good guys or one of the bad guys…  Or, put differently: is this someone I like, trust, can get along with? Or should I dismiss this person as someone I don’t like – in other words one of the ‘idiots’?

There are two large filing boxes into which we put others: the good and the bad guys, those I like and those I don’t. Some people have a large filing box for good people and a small one labelled: the idiots I have met.  Others, conversely, have a very large filing box for the idiots: idiotic bosses, idiotic colleagues, idiotic acquaintances etc.

Imagine what life is like if you have a huge ‘idiot box’?

In one sense, all this is about reducing the number of idiots you meet. Because you cannot be a team player, if all your team members are stupid, a good athlete if you have idiotic trainers or a good trainer if you have idiotic athletes.

What does your idiot box look like?