Man Looks On The Outward Appearance

There was an article in the newspaper sometime back about a fake antenna that came on the market for cellular phones. It cost $19.99 as most gimmicks do. The antenna gave the appearance of the real thing, but it was a fake. It was for people who couldn’t afford a cellular phone but did not want their friends and neighbors to know it. The amazing thing is that hundreds of thousands of people bought these fake antennas to impress people who they didn’t even know or like.

It all brings to mind the survey done by a psychology professor at DePaul University. The purpose of the survey was to find out what people think of those who wear eyeglasses. Shoppers in a very busy mall were asked to look at pictures of men and women with and without eyeglasses and then rate them according to certain characteristics. The results were not only interesting but revealed how people rate and evaluate other people.

Men wearing eyeglasses were overall considered not only more intelligent looking, but more trustworthy than those without eyeglasses. In a similar rating of women for intelligence, wearing or not wearing eyeglasses made no measurable difference. However, wearing eyeglasses did according to the survey add an air of financial success to both sexes. Women wearing eyeglasses were generally considered more competent than those without.

It is interesting to note that when the survey was completed, the professor bought himself a pair of fake eyeglasses to wear in the classroom at counseling sessions. He wanted to appear to his students and to his counselees as more competent. By the looks of things, man is more concerned about how he is seen than about how he sees.

…For God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance,

but the Lord looks at the heart. I Samuel 16:7