"What you see is what you get."
Many of you have heard that quote a numerous times. But I want to go into more depth in what I think the means to me. The first sense that helps my memory is not smell but sight. I remember little tiny details of irrelevant events, which sometimes frustrates my parents when I am off task. For example, I can remember exactly what happened on the first night I went to Downtown Disney. I can remember all the different sights. But the smells however, I can't imagine at all unless reproduced.
Sight also plays a big role when we judge people. We judge people on clothes, style, hair, accessories, etc. Some people may say that we shouldn't judge people by there looks because it is unethical. I say that it's human nature to judge people by how we see them. I do feel it's unethical as well. But in fact, it's our DNA to judge people by looks. I am not encouraging that you should judge someone like that. But I just want you guys to not feel so bad if you do. What are your thoughts?
Unlike yourself, smell is the sense that reminds me of memories. Interestingly enough it is said that smell is the number one sense to bring back memories. Certain colognes always remind me of certain guys and other smells always bring me back to certain instances. Another personal memory trigger for me is sound, especially with music! As for judging a book by its cover, we are all guilty. It is definitely human nature to do so.
ReplyDeleteI think I am a big person on sight too. I don't really tend to remember people or events by the way they smell. Sometimes I never even pay attention to the way things smell unless it it extremely good or awful. I remember faces really well, but I'm awful with names. I can recognize people from my childhood that probably have no idea who I am but I won't know what their name is. I don't remember any smells from that long ago, maybe not even very recently. The free write we had in class did help me think of scents that remind me of someone, but I had to think really hard. I don't identify my dad with the smells all the time I wrote about, I pay attention to what I see. Even though the smells I wrote about are true smells of my dad. It just all depends on the person which sent they use to remember things.
ReplyDeleteI am also extremely influenced by sight. Most of my memory is based off sight. When I first meet a person the visuals is the first thing that impacts me. I definitely judge a person initially from what I see. However, I have learned over the years what you see is not always what is true. A person that seems well put together might be covering up their insecurities. A person who looks like a jerk could be a good friend. Sight is definitely important but digging deeper paints a more accurate picture.
ReplyDeleteI'm having like an epiphany here. What if we are genetically predisposed to judge people by their outward appearances because that's how people use to survive back in the tribal days. If you saw someone who wasn't of your tribe, for example, or someone who looked like they belonged to a troubling group of people, you would know to avoid them. Just like now a days, certain people are deemed "freaks" if they wear a certain color, and we are told to be afraid of these people. Same thing if someone looks scary or like a rapist (lol) we are told all our lives to not trust people like that. What if it's innate, like inside of us, to naturally judge people on their looks?
ReplyDeleteHailey that was my exact point!!!!!!! I just had to comment because I am so happy you understand what I am trying to say!!!!!!!!!! :)
ReplyDeleteI have to agree sight is my strongest sense. In class a teacher could say a certain fact 20 times but I remember it best if I see it written down on paper. I also agree that judging people is not necessarily a bad thing. Yes, it is a human instinct to judge people. The problem becomes when we base our entire opinion off the way someone looks and never give them a chance to prove you wrong.
ReplyDeleteI agree, we all judge people. It’s an awful thing to do but it’s a natural process. We see someone on the side of the road in crappy clothes, we assume their homeless. It’s a process that happens no matter what in our head. The thing we have to do is say no who knows what there here for. Judging is an awful thing and it puts stereotypes on people. I don't agree with this quote because you can't tell what someone has to offer by looking at them from the outside. You always have to consider the inside and the qualities they may have. It’s not fair to judge based on what someone is wearing. You can look at this quote tons of different ways and this is just the way I see it.
ReplyDeleteEveryone's first judgement of somebody comes from how the person looks. I don't care who you are, everyone does it. It is just human nature and how we are raised. It may be "unethical," but it is just how it is. Just like there will never be a new article that isn't bias. No matter how hard you try to give both sides of a story there is always bias. It all depends on the person writing it. There isn't one person on this earth that doesn't judge people or isn't bias, so i don't really think it is "unethical" since everyone does it. Not judging people and it being "unethical" also leads back to political correctness, which i am not for by any means.
ReplyDeletei agree that we cant help it but to judge based on looks. I believe my best sense is smell. i can always remember specific smells for a long time. sometimes i smell something that reminds me of my childhood or of my early youth. I love when authors describe a certain smell in their writing because i can always imagine how something will smell using my memories of the smells i already know.
ReplyDeleteFor myself, sight and scent help me remember things. Sometimes I can walk into a room and it'll bring me back to a place I was before because of how it looks. One time when I was at camp, a girl in my room had coconut verbena body spray and every time I smell that scent, I always think of my camp that summer. But I agree with you, it is human nature to judge somebody off of how they look but we also have to try our best to remember that it's not about how they look and to always give the person a chance. I mean, I'll be the first person to say they've judged somebody off of looks but I can also say that I've taken the time to see if I could get along with them or not. I think coming to college has really helped me stop this horrible habit...It hasn't completely stopped and I don't think it ever will but in the mean time, I'm learning to not judge a book by its cover.
ReplyDeleteI feel like sight is not one of our strongest senses because we use it all the time. We may not notice what our other senses pick up on, but we always notice or recognize what we see. Sight is still very powerful, but as described in "Inception" its not what we see but how the dream makes us feel that make us think it is real. A sense of smell is one of the senses that can evoke familiar feelings, like smelling pumpkins always brings me back to traditional family event that we call "The Big Pumpkin". Seeing a pumpkin would not bring about those memories, but smelling a pumpkin definitely does. So while sight is powerful in its own right, smell, is exceedingly more power than perhaps all of the senses.
ReplyDeleteI am from a small private school where we all dressed and looked the same. Since college started I have noticed that even if a person looks different than me we could still have a lot in common. I met a girl at rush. She looked like something that Jersey Shore had puked up. Red bra handing out of her way to short dress and all. We began talking and I couldn't believe how much we had in common. It was weird. That is one thing that I love about college though. You get to meet all of these people that you may never get to meet. I also notice that I remember pictures more than smells. I can remember what my Pre K class room looked like but I could never tell you what it smells like. I think different senses are stronger for different people.
ReplyDeleteI think that all the senses can evoke memories. For some people, certain senses are stronger then others. For me, I think that sight, smell, and hearing are big factors in my memories. If I see someone eating a piece of cake, I might be reminded of my birthday. If I smell chicken noodle soup, I would think of the summers I spent at my grandma's house in Virginia. If I heard the song; My Wish by Rascal Flatts, I think back to my graduation from high school and all the amazing times I had there. Senses really do surface many memories. I think that by using these senses in our writing, it makes for a much stronger piece.
ReplyDeleteI dont know about you guys, but I'm extremely judgmental, shallow and superficial. Looks are how I base my opinions on pretty much anything. The people I sit next to in my larger classes are all predetermined by the fickleness of my brain. But, on the other hand, I do judge everyone on smell too. Like if theres some one really smelly, like they havent showered in a week, I wont sit next to them. Same thing on the bus. I just have so much contempt for smelly people. Like seriously.... get clean...
ReplyDeleteYeah, everyone definitely judges one another based on looks whether they mean to or not. It really is just human nature. Sometimes it’s things we consider ‘unethical’ such as color of skin, or gender, and sometimes it’s something as random as size of the nose, or attached versus unattached ear lobes. I guess what I’m saying is sometimes it isn’t so much judging another person as categorizing them. That’s something that seems fairly common; almost a trigger or a way to remember said person. Sometimes it is easier to remember someone based off something physical rather than their personality—especially if you don’t really know the person all that well. Appearance is the first person we notice about someone and we shouldn’t feel bad about noticing it.
ReplyDeleteI agree that sight is one of strongest senses, but smell and hearing are important too. When all three are put together, we can judge the best. I do think that sight is the most important because we do judge people and things on what we see first. But our other senses help us judge by backing up our sight in a way. Everyone judges one another. It is human nature. Also sight, smell, and hearing are important to memories. I remember stuff based on all three. It depends on what i am remembering.
ReplyDeleteYou can't judge a book by its cover. I totally agree in that the way people look, or dress is how we instantly judge them without even getting to know them. I have been trying to work on not basing my thoughts about a person just on looks. I am trying to get to know them and talk to them before I make any assumptions. Overall, it is human nature to judge people just by looks. We all need to work on having an open mind and getting to know people before we make up our mind whether we like them or not.
ReplyDeleteFor me, smells bring back the most memories. There are many different smells that mean different things to me. I can still remember things from when I was pretty young because of certain smells. And I love that. But I agree that we all judge people based on their looks. It is a natural human instinct. Yes some of us judge more than others but in the end we all do it. We know it is a horrible thing to do but we cant help it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, when I look back at memories I remember things that I saw rather than what I smelled. It's human nature to judge on appearance which I think is such a crime. Everytime I've done that I've always been wrong. I do that thing when you judge someone before you actually get to know them. Once you do get to know them the things you thought before were completely wrong. I try to get to know people before I make assumptions about them. It bugs me when people won't take the time to get to know someone just because of their appearance. I can't stand people that are shallow.
ReplyDeleteLooks are what draw us to people. As much as I hate to admit it, they are the lure when we meet new people. It's only after we know someone that looks become less of a factor. I mean, the way someone looks is a visual stimulant. If someone is pretty or handsome, we're bound to look at them as apposed to someone who isn't, simply because it's a "sight for sore eyes" (Another quote!). Looks may not be the only thing, but they play a major role in our everyday relationships.
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