The Need for Charity: We Aren't as Smart as We Think We Are

A friend of mine recently said something truly profound about our tendency to judge others:

Whether they are religious or not, conservative or liberal, no matter their race, sex, or orientation, human beings have a very strong tendency to think that their own perspectives are the clearest, that their ideas are the most rational, and that their values are the most enlightened.  Anyone who disagrees, on the other hand, is easily seen as deficient... because after all, if my viewpoint is the right one then everyone who doesn't agree with me is wrong, by definition.  

Yet, in our world, which is overflowing with people who all think themselves smarter than their neighbors, people still don't know who has the right of way at a traffic circle, they lose their keys frequently, forget important dates and appointments, and constantly butt-dial each other.   

In other words, we aren't all as omniscient as we think we are, and a little bit of allowing others to have opinions that differ from our own without having to psychoanalyze the other person would probably be a good thing.