It is normal and natural for me to judge everything by my own values. Not best, not even advisable, but certainly normal and natural, to do so. Which is a mistake, because values are free to differ, and do differ, from person to person. It is value that determines right and wrong, propriety.
There are matters of justice, of which right and wrong are not subject to diversity, matters of justice always being right or wrong. But for matters of taste, that’s entirely different. Matters of taste are just that. If you like it, it is good. If you don’t like it, it is not good. In both cases, the thing itself is neither good or bad, just your disposition to it. Justice is right or wrong. Tastes are neither right or wrong.
I need to remember this when dealing with people, personally and professionally. In matters of tastes, right and wrong are as varied as the people asked. Its personal.
There is no doing good or doing bad, when working in matters of taste.
One person’s music is another person’s noise. Same for everything. Cultures. To each our own. From each an acknowledgment of acceptable differences. Free to participate, okay to ignore. Sincerity, not agreement, being the essence of respect.
So I check myself, being quick to condemn, dismiss, or belittle other people’s treasures, their closely held values. Those are not my values, so I reject them for myself. But we do not share the same tastes, mine are no better, theirs are no worse, except for me. Which is okay. That’s the part to remember. They are not right or wrong, neither am I, so don’t act as if we were.
Working on projects for others, I can’t do my job without taking a differing set of values, and trying them on. I have to proceed from their perspective. That is the respect component of professionalism. And for me, professionalism bridges values of justice AND taste, as I am committed to delivering pinnacle results, within budget.
Perspective. That’s something my Salesian teachers worked hard on getting me to understand. “The big picture.” It worked.
Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of stupid cultures out there, and every culture I’m aware of has its own special dumb things to do. But as an emotional human being (an animal), I find what is fun to be fun, not smart. Which is also awesome!
Do you see a difference between matters of taste, and matters of justice?
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David Weeks, Information Developer, Tampa, Florida.