They say first impression matter and can also be surprisingly convincing, but they aren't always accurate. Cos sometimes we think we have someone completely figured out, only to realize later that you couldn't have been more wrong. Getting to know people has a way of challenging our assumption
Have you ever completely changed your opinion about someone after getting to know them personally? What happened that made you see them differently?
Actually I have someone whom I have recently been talking about which is why it's important that we don't judge people on first impressions.
This person I had bad impression about at first is now a good friend of mine and we hardly go a day without talking or chatting
That's a great example of why first impressions aren't always the full story. Sometimes all it takes is one genuine conversation to reveal a completely different side of someon
Seriously speaking. There is this Yoruba proverb that says "isunmoni ni imo ise eni" which means that "you know someone better when you move closer to them".
Seems you just realized you predicted someone wrongly based on your first meeting. Was it for good or bad
Looking back now, what do you think was responsible for your first impression being so wrong?
Everything 😂
The first reason is because I wasn't close to the person. So I was judging him from a far distance.
It was just so wrong you know
It's funny how the less we know someone, the more confident we can be in judging them. I guess proximity has a way of correcting assumptions. Have you become more careful about first impressions since then?
Yeaaah that confidence grows more when the person coincidentally act to prove our wrong assumptions
I never saw him talk except to just one person anytime we meet and you know you would find that strange when there is always many people around
I can relate to this. I remember in secondary school,I only talk with my guys, nothing more. There was this day in our class group, I don't know if these ladies had discussed me. They were like I'm proud blah blah blah. Funny thing, I read the chat,....
but still didn't respond to that allegations it was one of my friends that was doing the explanation that I'm not proud, I just like to choose who I relate with
However, people will always have an impression about us even if we relate with others even when we decide not to relate
Yeaah people are entitled to their opinions and not everyone will see you for who you are even if you're the most transparent
Like, I was just like what are these people saying..me and pride in the same sentence. Even if you want to talk, say something else
Lol that's exactly how you feel when assumptions about you are wrong but sincerely that's the way they see you from afar
First impressions decides to a great extent how one see another until there is a close proximity. Knowing someone corrects a lot of assumptions.
I've had a few experiences like that, where I had the wrong impression of someone and someone having the wrong impression of me.
I like that you mentioned proximity. It really does expose the gap between perception and reality. Sometimes the closer we get to people, the more we realize we were judging a version of them that only existed in our minds
Exactly! But I think it's impossible not to have impressions about other people before you go closer. We just need to make sure we don't think worse of anyone since we don't know them.
Exactly! You have a point. We should have something expectations because a lot of people can look like what they are not. It's not by facial appearance but what they have in mind
One of them I remember till today was a girl I always saw as someone from a rich home and I couldn't be friends with her because she seemed to have a bug lifestyle compared to mine.
Long story cut short, we got so close and it turned out she's just into the packaging lifestyle.
That's a perfect example of how appearances can be misleading. It's interesting that what looked like wealth from a distance turned out to be something completely different when you got close. I guess we often mistake confidence or presentation for someone's actual reality
Yeah, I do it a lot before. It's now I am trying to be less judgy when I meet someone for the first time or from afar before I get closer.
I like the fact that you are becoming less judgmental because sometimes that cloud shows how we relate to those people, and we won't get the best from them if they come with good intentions, but I don't mean you should lose guard 😅😂
However, do you think she was intentionally trying to project that image, or was that just how you interpreted her?
Some people are actually like that. Not really because they wanted to live a fake life but because they can't afford to be underrated.
Yeah and it's nice as long as its not at the expense of another person's downfall
She wasn't trying to actually, she just learned to understand herself early enough, had opportunities and used it well. I'm saying all this in a positive light actually, I admire her resilience in building a life for herself.
Lol not really, she's an industrious lady and building a life for herself.
Yes I have also judged a book by its cover.
I have a friend who is so caring but because I haven't received such an amount of care especially from a guy, I began to think he probably wants something else.
And I was wrong that was just who he is. I felt bad when I realised.