With youth: How do I really know somebody?

The following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Question (Q): How do we know anybody? How do we really know anybody?

Acharya Prashant (AP): Let us first see how do we presently work, and what is our way of knowing and relating to other people. How do we look at anybody? Pay attention to this.

How do we look at anybody? Do we look at people as they are? No. Our eyes are covered with a lot of filters, filters of identity, beliefs, our own prejudices, of the opinions that we are already carrying about others, and with these eyes, we look at others.

Can looking be really possible if you already have an opinion about the other?

Is it possible to really know the other person or the other situation or whatever when your mind is already carrying an opinion about the other? It is impossible, because if you strongly believe that you already know then you can no more know, that is the way we operate.

We never really look at anything. We always look at people, situations, and places with some kind of belief, and that belief is a great barrier to really knowing. With that belief, you can never know anything, never. So, it is no wonder that we are deceived.