The desirability of judging books by their covers?

It seems to me that at least a large portion of our species seems pretty hardwired to make generalizations about people based upon initial observations. This strikes me as somewhat understandable. Doesn’t it reflect the desirability of learning from your experiences? Can you approach every individual as a completely open book? On a more basic level, aren’t certain visual cues a useful aid for remembering people?

I believe problems occur when your preconception is so strong that it cannot be overcome by the object’s actions to the contrary. Or when we attribute factors to an individual based on someone other than our own’s experiences with that individual’s “group.” I’m sure you could identify many other problems.

I guess it strikes me as pretty natural, though, to observe external factors about people we meet – their color, appearance, height, weight, cleanliness, clothing, etc. – and then to make initial generalizations that at least initially guide our interaction with them. I understand that some folk are able to transcend this, and view people they encounter simply as people, nothing more or nothing less. Are these folk more, or less, “human”?

You make an interesting point. It’s a pity I haven’t the slightest idea of how to answer that, other than to say that being human is objective, like everything else. :slight_smile:

Personally, I always measure people up the first time(s) I meet them and probably make assumptions. Actually, I just love wondering about people, but never do I take my assumptions as facts. I only hope I’m right :slight_smile:

For instance I like to check people out when I go to dinner with them and I usually look for the same things. Are they maybe alcoholics? Are they educated? If not, do they have a complex about it? Where are they from? Where are they headed in life? That sort of thing.

On the most superficial level I suppose race and other appearance comes into the equation, but usually I just look at people unknown to me as blank pieces of paper untill I know more. I think that’s what makes a racist, remembering one person you knew who had a certain trait and assume that everyone with that trait you will meet from that day on, will be exactly the same person!

So I guess the real problem lies in people’s ability to differenciate between traits that almost always mean something (like morbidly obease = is sensitive about fat jokes) and traits that only very seldom mean the same thing (like blacks = naturally good at basketball or asian = karate masters at birth!)
I hope that made any sense at all, it’s late here :slight_smile:

G. Raven J.

“Raven is my middle name”

I tell you that I literally choose books by their cover. The artwork associated with an unknown author goes a long way towards determining if I’ll even flip the book around to see if the plot interests me.

As for judging people by first impressions, it’s done all the time. This is a good thing for both sides.
Poker players must size up the competition as soon as possible. The more you know about a person, obviously the better informed you are. But when you sit down, you need information NOW and the nine other people at the table aren’t going to hand over their resumes to you. In this instance, general profiling goes a long way towards determining how good of a player you think they are. Young or old? Male or female? Are they drinking alcohol? Are they watching the television? Are they playing every hand? Have you ever seen them before?
Your impression of them during the first thirty seconds, and then during the first twenty minues, is how you judge them as a poker player.
But other people are judging you at the exact same time. And you can bias their impression of you by acting a bit differently while they’re trying to scope you out. If they think you’re reckless, they won’t take you as seriously when you have the big hand. If they think you’re conservative, they will fold to your bluffs more often.

Poker is a big game and it goes waaaaay beyond the cards at the table. It’s like life. You must have a snap judgement of people to deal with them. But it is just as important that you keep an open mind and be willing to revise your initial impression. Those that can’t learn that it will occasionally come back to bite them in the ass.

I always judge books by their covers. How else?

Ah, yes, I also always misjudge books by their covers.
I happen to love mysteries, but the old-style ones only.
Where the detective is actually thinking, rather than guessing or just chasing.
So I look for those key words “good puzzle”, “intricate plotting” and “clever twists”.
Unfortuantely, reviewers have no compunction about saying is “like a new Agatha Christie” when there is no analysis done by the detective at all, just routine police procedure. Drag everyone in and hope someone is recognized.

I’m a confirmed bookworm, and even worked in a bookstore for a few years. I definitely judge a book by its cover, and saw customers (not all of them, though) do the same. There’s one publishing company, Vintage, that I think makes some of the nicest, classiest book covers around.

Extending this idea out more generally, I do agree that we do make judgments of others based on appearance. Whether it is right or wrong, it is still something all of us do. While appearance isn’t everything, it does help give at least some information about that person. It’s one of the reasons why I show up for work in slacks, and a dress shirt (sometimes with a tie), instead of showing up in shorts and a T-shirt that says “Same s**t, different day.”

You’re damned right. If Michael Whelan does a cover for some unknown author, I’ll buy the book in the blink of an eye. I won’t even bother to read the back.

MR+