By Lavannya Anand
Personal circumstances hold a definite correlation with how seriously one's knowledge is taken. They are the conditions of your life related to your financial situation, knowledge, education level and health situation. There are a number of societal stereotypes that rest on personal circumstance. A woman with a high paying job is perceived as fully educated while a person living in a slum is thought to be illiterate. A man with a college degree is almost inherently seen as intelligent while a person lacking a high school diploma is often deemed too dim to compete in the rat race.
Outward appearance is one of the most common factors used by people to form an opinion of your personal circumstance. For the most part, at first glance the difference between being well groomed and looking shabby is the difference between trustworthy and not. Common social connotations like smart people wearing glasses or blonde girls being intellectually less than, in truth, hold no water. However, we likely have similar stereotypes ingrained in us, that come into play subconsciously when meeting new people or deciding between who’s knowledge to take more seriously. They also cause us to form hypotheses about people’s personal circumstance, whether we realize it or not, and help us make quick decisions about who’s information we can trust most.
In most situations, having a ‘socially acceptable’ personal circumstance and appearance allows you to gain ‘first choice’. Between two people with unknown competence levels, it’s natural to look at their outward appearance and attempt to gauge for yourself who would be most helpful. However, once you have received first choice based on your perceived personal circumstance, nothing but your own capability will allow you to retain that position. Realizing your mistake and turning to the apparently ‘less competent’ person only to find they were the better choice all along takes a few seconds, but personal circumstance is what allows the other person to be chosen first.
To sum up, personal circumstance will not go far, and beyond it you will have to prove yourself completely and continuously put in the work. However, it acts as a stepping stool to get your first foot in the door, and more often than not that leg up makes all the difference.
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