People Watching

Have you ever found yourself staring at people in random public places and wondering what their story might be? I'll be the first to admit that I've made judgments based on appearances, but it makes me wonder if that is just a natural reaction as opposed to something malicious. There certainly are people who judge others consciously and without regard for who that person might really be, but I find that whenever I find myself "judging", it feels like more of a subconscious event. Afterward, I feel question who that person might really be. Maybe they are a skilled musician, a genius, a total idiot, or maybe we were absolutely right? We are told that judging is wrong and in many ways it is. But at the same time it has a basis in something, and is probably a primal remnant from when we relied on it as a survival mechanism. In this sense, judging and stereotypes are one in the same because they are based on some kind of basic truth about whatever or whomever is being examined. Yet, we feel bad about what we initially think about something or somebody whether it is right or wrong. If our conclusions are wrong, we scold ourselves in our minds for even reaching that conclusion in the first place. If we are right, we still feel bad because we realize what we did and remember that it's wrong based on societal norms. Are we just fighting nature on this?