The standard of human judgment arises from his habits. In other words, the criteria by which one judges are formed and shaped by his experiences, common sense, and knowledge accumulated throughout life. Man does not decide according to conscience, which follows righteousness, equity, faithfulness, and justice, but rather according to desires of the flesh—through essential relations, habitual relations, environmental relations, experiential relations, and emotional relations.
Differences in perception regarding human decisions and judgments stem from these essential and habitual relations, for these are the major factors that shape judgment. Essential relations, though differing in degree according to environment, desire, and greed, are generally the same: the flesh always seeks what is more comfortable, pleasant, joyful, and entertaining. But habitual relations—namely, how much and in what way a person has been wounded from childhood by parents, relatives, organizations, or society—make a great difference in one’s power of judgment and decision. Because the form and depth of victim mentality shaped by each person’s wounds differ, their standards of judgment differ as well.
For example, one raised in poverty or one who grew up under abusive parents, beaten and cursed continually, bears wounds and feelings of inferiority beyond imagination. Such victim mentality breeds a deep inferiority complex, and when others present different opinions or methods, he clings to his own views with an obsession so intense he would stake his life upon it, compelled to force his way through. This urge to prove his superiority, intelligence, and worth is nothing other than the fruit of inferiority born of victim mentality. Such mentality produces excessive competitiveness, seeing others as enemies, hiding and justifying his own faults while probing and condemning every fault in others, demanding accountability.
Because of this closed and obstinate victim mentality, such a person cannot receive better ways or wiser opinions, and thus cannot easily find more rational, universal, practical, or improved methods. Even with much time and trial and error, he ultimately collides with his own self-made limits and can never escape them.
This inferiority-driven obsession manifests in two extremes: either making radical claims from extreme self-assertion, or else giving indecisive or evasive answers when faced with matters he does not know or feels insecure about. In other words, the fear of being exposed as ignorant or incompetent is so strong that he cannot simply admit “I don’t know.” Instead, he skirts the question with irrelevant or confused answers. Yet when speaking of things he does know, he speaks with boldness and pride, often belittling others.
Such extremes are the fruit of excessive competitiveness rooted in inferiority, which treats others as rivals. Judgment and decisions, therefore, are often rash and hasty, leading to errors, or else excessively cautious, also leading to errors. Because his judgments are skewed, he cannot maintain balance or fairness. At the core, this stems from poor ability to empathize.
The greater the victim mentality, the deeper the inferiority complex, and the stronger the obsession becomes. This narrows the scope of vision and understanding, leaving little room for empathy or acceptance. Instead of pursuing reason in matters, such people become consumed with rivalry, unable to accept others’ wisdom, experiences, or perspectives. With excessive competitiveness and emotional sensitivity, disputes with others become frequent, as they stake everything on asserting their own view with near life-or-death certainty.
Inferiority thus produces obsession born of desire, while wounds and tears springing from victim mentality are mostly nothing more than evil emotions, false tears, and false wounds born of selfish desire and craving. Decisions and judgments rooted in victim mentality fluctuate constantly with moods and emotions, exaggerated according to one’s own bias. And because of these inflated and faulty judgments, such people habitually belittle and mistreat others, driven by the prideful obsession of asserting their own existence and craving recognition.