Verified answer

walk a mile in another man's shoes and you will understand . . .. . and you will have a new pair of shoes.

No you should not put yourself in someones else's shoes before you judge them, in fact you should not judge anybody. It is unreasonable to think that wearing my shoes would give you any insight into anything about me other than my shoe size but if you mean metaphorically the answer is still no. It would do no good to even try. You do not have time to live someone else's life and fully understand them. Think of this example. A child grows up in an abusive alcohol soaked environment where it is common that he is forced to either endure a bloody beating or watch his mother or siblings endure one. It would be easy to put myself in his shoes and conclude that he above all else should understand the effect of alcohol and violence and therefore he should never drink, or show signs of violence. In fact, one would think that he should detest those aspects of a personality. If that person grew up to be a violent drunken child abusing wife beater, I would put my self in his shoes and say he more than anybody should no better but what I could not realize would be the the damage to the psyche that takes place after years of abuse and exposure to violence. I say it is impossible to put myself in any ones shoes and understand them I also say that child abuse and wife beating are wrong regardless of the reason but I would not judge the person, just the actions.

Because you can't "Not judge" at least put their shoes on, even if they are serial killers. As we are all connected it will help you learn about yourself and help you make wiser, more informed opinions in the future. Life is about growing and learning, keep the doors open.

If you allow yourself to feel compassion understanding that you could be in any situation anyone else is in at any given time, you will be less likely to judge in a negative way!

because you are standing from your point of view and they are standing in theirs. sociologist say that you have to judge a person by the morals and rules of the society they live in not yours to get a reasonable assessment. if you judge them by their own rules and morals then you are "in their shoes", looking from their point of view.

Judge not, less you wish to be judged by others

It depends on your sweet will. I think other's cannot interfere and infiltrate into the mind of a third person.

My (i think,reasonable) answer is to research what-and-why the philosopher K.R.Popper says on this matter.

Not if the other person is a rapist or a serial killer, no. But just normal people, maybe.

No.

Not always.

But developing empathy is crucial.