Understanding others, why is it so important?

The human being is the only individual capable of making the effort to understand individuals of the same species.. Understanding others entails a task that facilitates socialization processes, improving the chances of survival of individuals in different contexts through mutual help.

As social beings, understanding others opens the possibility of viewing situations from different perspectives. In this sense, it favors the processes involved in empathy and the value system as a human being.. However, the fact that understanding other human beings is an extraordinary ability does not mean that it is a simple goal.

Social behavior in humans

Understanding others is influenced by various factors. Moods, emotions, fatigue, illnesses, etc. influence the way in which an individual is willing to do favors or provide help. That is, if a person feels in a good state of mind, they will be more willing to do favors or understand others. If, on the other hand, this same person feels irritable, efforts to understand others may be more difficult.

There are times when depending on the expressions, looks and gestures of another person, you can easily recognize their emotional state. Nevertheless, There are times when managing these non-verbal cues is quite difficult, so the only solution left is to ask the individual what is happening to them.. This second strategy often fails, because sometimes you want to hide more intimate feelings or you want to cover up or lie about these emotional states.

Empathy within the processes of understanding others

Empathy plays an essential role in understanding others. Taking the reins of another person’s experience to know their point of view and the moods generated based on the above opens the doors to understanding.

Understanding others involves the task of experiencing the emotions of others, while experiencing those of oneself, remembering similar experiences that one has had to go through and at the same time recognizing the differences between one point of view and another. The key in this process is active listening and not immediate reaction for correct communication of individual differences..

Why understand others?

It is known that human beings have survived and evolved due to the skills of some of their individuals in group coexistence. That is to say, Socialization has facilitated the survival of some through learning and acquiring skills taught by others.

Understanding others has been one of the key factors in the development of these basic skills. This provides the knowledge of knowing when interaction and the implementation of mechanisms linked to safeguarding one’s own life and that of others is necessary. Furthermore, it is known that Being ignored and misunderstood by the rest of a group to which one belongs leads to great emotional and psychological consequences.

Failures when trying to understand others

People’s tendencies or intentions may vary, regardless of the repertoire of behaviors they display to give visibility to a state of mind or an emotion that may be appropriate given the circumstances. For example, if you are at an airport where your boarding gate is an hour away from where you are and you need to run and push people aside to get there on time, would that mean that you are an impatient and disrespectful person?

Certain keys are usually collected in the environment without taking into account other equally important ones. Therefore, Understanding others is often not an easy goal to achieve.

On the other hand, the opinion of others about certain circumstances also influences the understanding of certain situations and moods of another person. That is to say, The reaction of other people can influence the ability to understand an individual.

Therefore, understanding others constitutes one of the essential tasks for the survival of human beings and their community. On the other hand, It is very difficult to transcend the self and put ourselves in the place of the other if we are not skilled at identifying our emotions. and the variables that condition them.

Additionally, certain opinions and specific scenarios can dilute objectivity by putting yourself in the other person’s shoes. This is when empathy can bring out its dark side. Inevitably, as individuals integrated into a community and a group, Value judgments are, at times, practically inevitable.

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