Is it more difficult to be more respectful of others if you don't know who they are?

Question

i.e. would knowing more about a person make you any more respectful?

Well said, you.

Well said, Shahrizat.

More than one excellent answer. This one's going to vote. Good luck everyone.

Answer 1

I think it is easier, because you have no preconceived judgments. That is if you give respect up front because of courtesy, and that is the way you want to be treated.

Trust is hard to give without knowing about someone.

Answer 2

It has always been my belief that people, - human beings - no matter who they are or whence they come, deserve respect. It doesn’t matter if they are strangers or otherwise; it is immaterial to me. Who am I to decide that this person deserves more respect than the other? Even if they are people I don’t know, they must be someone else’s mother, father, brother or sister…

For me, being respectful of others should not be a conscious effort; it should be as natural as breathing, something that is a sincere and inherent in response to any human interaction that we go through in our daily lives and not a calculated decision on how much respect different people deserve. Friends or strangers, are they not all human beings with feelings?

Even our friends were once strangers, so are we saying that there should be any difference in how much we would respect them? Are they not still the same people, before and after we came to know them?

I sincerely believe that that the world would be a much, much better place if everyone would respect each other even in all their differences; cultural, politics, ethnicity or religion. Do we not all have blood of the same color?

I know I have not really answered this question, and I apologize. These are merely my sentiments, and opinions will always differ, no matter how right we sometimes think we are in such matters. But with respect in mind, I think we could all learn so many things from each other ….

Answer 3

Absolutely!!! You can only know so much about a person of whom you can only imagine, dream or guess what they are like. Respect as well as other attributes come in time. However, even though you may not know a person well you can always have an idea of what they are like by the things they say. Besides respect is not so much what we pay for others but something we carry inside ourselves. So if respect is one of our inner traits then it is so much easier to share it with the rest of the world; those we know; and those we don't :-)

Answer 4

I have no problem being respectful to a complete stranger. Maybe more so than to those I know better. With familiarity comes personal knowledge and judgement. This knowledge then gives me the ability to judge a person (by my own standards) and I may lose respect for that person instead of gaining it. I find that it is easier to give respect to any person until they have done someone to no longer deserve it.

Answer 5

If you don't know who they are, you ought to be a little more respectful than you might otherwise be--"first impressions," and all that. No one deserves disrespect until they themselves have disrespected others. Even then, you must respect their human rights, as the justice system must, though you may not respect their character or integrity.

Answer 6

It shouldn't be. Respect should be a STANDARD attribute we give to EVERYBODY- at LEAST until such time as they PROVE themselves unworthy of it. By Respecting OURSELVES first & foremost- we owe Others the same consideration if we intend to deal with them as Equals. :)

Answer 7

I don't respect any one before I know who they are.

Answer 8

Actually, I find it easier to be disrespectful to people that I know, because I know that they know I mean no disrespect.

Answer 9

no....how dare I be disrespectful of someone I don't know.....it is harder to respect someone you know well....because you then also know their weaknesses

Answer 10

read schopenhauer or i will tell u this that u r a fool.