“Each person is his own judge,” – Native American Proverb, Shawnee Nation – Balancing Self-reflection and External Feedback

Transcript

Dan Fouts (00:11)

Greetings everybody from the Teach Different podcast. Great to be with you today. We got a cool show today in honor of Native American Heritage Month, And we’re gonna be taking a look at a quote that’s actually, I did a little research attributed to a lot of different people, but including the Shawnee Native American tribe in the central to eastern part of the United States. So we’re gonna start with some wisdom from Native American culture in honor of the month. So that’s going to be great. For those, and it’s just going to be Steve and me today, so we’re going to go back and forth. It’s going to be a podcast short, you might want to call it, 10 to 15 minutes, get in, get out, giving you guys ideas for using this in class or with friends, or if you’re a parent and you’re using this with your child in one of our programs, you can use this as well. It’s a great way to honor groups of people who’ve contributed wisdom to our world. All right, and for those unfamiliar, we’re gonna do the quote, we’re gonna look at the claim of the quote, we’re gonna look at the counterclaim to the quote, and then we’re gonna hopefully ask a few questions. Even on these shorter podcasts, we wanna come up with a couple good zingers to really make people think and always be thinking as well for those teachers out there, connecting this to your curriculum is a nice next step once you become comfortable using the Teach Different method. Here we go. Native American proverb, Shawnee tribe. “Each person is his own judge. Each person is his own judge.” Steve, what do you think? Claim. Rapid fire here.

Steve Fouts (02:06)

Don’t get caught up in other people’s opinions. Be your own measure of success. Block out the world, stay positive, and only worry about what you’re doing from an internal perspective.

Dan Fouts (02:29)

I like it. You are your own judge. You are responsible for yourself and within the Native American culture here, you’re responsible for being a good person for your family, for your country, for your land. So it’s, you know, look inward, you are responsible for who you are and the choices you make. It’s a very individualistic claim, I think it’s focused on the individual, but I think it has a larger meaning beyond the individual to the community that everyone within a community should adopt the same attitude. Each person is his own judge.

Steve Fouts (03:13)

It resonates with me because a lot of times that will get caught up in following other people’s ideas of what you should or shouldn’t be doing. And this is an internal morality. Like in the end, you have to be the one that cares about yourself being good. And it’s got to be an internal critique of yourself. And if it’s not, it’s external people telling you that you’re good, bad,

It’s not going to stick. It has to be internal for you to really transform yourself and be a better person, for instance. That’s the hope, right? But that’s the power of it to me.

Dan Fouts (03:59)

Yeah, I like that. That external pressures can maybe teach you to be good, but it’s not long lasting. If we’re looking at sustainable solutions and a sustainable morality, it has to come from within. And that’s such a…

Steve Fouts (04:18)

I’m going to say personally, go ahead.

Dan Fouts (04:21)

No, go ahead.

Steve Fouts (04:23)

I’m going to say personally, it totally fits the way I perceive getting compliments and criticisms. I personally don’t get carried away or at least try not to get carried away by compliments or criticisms because it throws me off, And I realized that if I take those too much in the extreme and I let other people judge me, then I am going to, you know, either get overconfident because everybody is puffing me up or I’m going to get depressed because everybody’s telling me what it is that I’m doing wrong. So I like it as a centering mechanism. You know, in the end, you got to look at yourself and you can take, ideally you can take criticism from people, get better with it, not have it be depressing. You can also accept compliments and get cues from when you’re doing the right things and continue doing them and not take it to the extreme and get overconfident. But the risk is there.

Dan Fouts (05:27)

Yeah. The risk is the number. Yeah. And it takes an inner confidence to really embrace this quote. Each person is his own judge because it puts you as the author of your own existence, and that’s terrifying for some people. But I like that about the quote. I like how it puts it in the individual’s court, so to speak, and says, if you want to be a good person, you have to be your own judge because no one knows you better than you. And for some people, they might need a boost of confidence to feel that every day, but it’s very motivational to say this. Well, let’s push against this here. What’s…

Steve Fouts (06:08)

Yeah, I’ll take your idea of… go ahead.

Dan Fouts (06:13)

Counterclaim. What’s a counterclaim here?

Steve Fouts (06:19)

Some people aren’t sure of themselves and they actually do better when they have someone monitoring them or mentoring them or holding them to high standards. You can get motivated by doing the right thing, by allowing someone else to have some power over you and be the judge and wanting to hear what they think about you and whether you’re on the right track. Just some people are just, they’re ignorant to knowing how to be their own judge. And it’s a developmental thing, I think. So I would say it’s not true in all cases that sometimes looking for a judge outside of yourself can be an act of humility.

Dan Fouts (07:12)

I agree. If you’re looking up to a role model, in a sense, you’re giving that power, that person power to judge you in a certain sense. At least you’re thinking that they are adhering to a standard that you want to adhere to. So I guess you are kind of judging yourself through them. But to your point, sometimes we need the judge, the teacher to sit down and say, here is where you went awry and I have real problems with your behavior or your performance. You’re not doing well in these areas or the coach or the parent or the religious figure, whomever. That outer judgment on us can be an inspiring and a motivating force within us, if monitored. I mean, too much of it, bad, but sometimes too little of it is also bad.

Steve Fouts (08:13)

And it’s also the sign of a humble heart looking for someone that can be a mentor or a teacher to you and help show you the way to become a better person. There’s a humility in that. If you just sat there and said, I am my own judge. Whatever I do, I’m gonna judge it. It’s too much pressure to put on somebody, at certain points, and it’s better to allow them to want to get better and need other people to do it. And you know, it doesn’t even necessarily have to be another person. The judge could be a God or a religion. You know, you know that you have human frailties. You’re not a perfect person. You want something else. You want another model for your behavior that you can look up to, and you’re fine allowing a religion and God to set that for you. And that helps you become a better person. That’s fine. And you’re not your own judge. You’re being judged. And that’s the way it works.

Dan Fouts (09:28)

And maybe life, to kind of put the claim and the counterclaim together, maybe life is that blend of being your own judge, but then knowing when to allow others in to provide criticism to help you improve. So maybe it’s that magical middle. We don’t know if the, you know, the Shawnee had this in mind when they, when they said this, I think it’s such a beautiful quote within the context of Native American culture, because it really puts a responsibility on the individual. But it’s also true that in Native American culture, the community, the collectivist approach was also really important. So I’m wondering if they would also see, kind of, a blend between the two. I really love this.

Steve Fouts (10:17)

Absolutely. Yeah, they would because they’re so balanced. Everything’s in harmony with nature. All these Native American quotes are just amazing. And here’s an essential question. How and when should you receive criticism? And by whom?How do you become a better person?

Dan Fouts (10:46)

Can you become a better person if you are the only person who’s the judge? Or do you need other people to be the judge for you? I’m just saying your question in just different ways.

Steve Fouts (11:00)

Yeah, what’s the criteria of being a judge? What’s the criteria? Can anybody be a judge? Regardless of, you know, what you’re thinking or doing or, you know?

Dan Fouts (11:12)

What’s the healthy balance between judging yourself and allowing others to judge you? Yeah, this is a personal one. This is a really good one. I think kids would love to talk about this because they’re really hard on themselves. We’re all hard on ourselves. And this could lead to some beautiful sharing of personal experiences and storytelling, which is everybody who knows, who tries this method in whatever your context, the heart and soul of this is that the stories we tell, the lived experiences that we bring to bear on these words of wisdom. So any parting thoughts, Steve, or all good?

Steve Fouts (12:04)

Short and the kids are going to have a lot to say. Clear.

Dan Fouts (12:08)

Great. All right, well, thanks everybody. Hope you enjoyed this quote from the Shawnee tribe. Each person is his own judge in celebration of Native American Heritage Month. Have a great one. We’ll see you next time.