Up to increasing your ethical capital? How about playing a game? Everyone who plays wins! Can’t beat those odds. You can play the game by yourself, with family, with colleagues at work or with your students in the classroom. Expect some laughter as well as some comments such as, “Do you think so?” Or,“No way! I can’t see it.”

The only rule: No getting irritated or stomping away as a few sensitive people have been known to do. The game you’ll be playing is called: “HORSE or PIG or FISH?”

If playing alone, think about your face, focusing primarily on the shape of your nose. Does your nose resemble a pig, a fish or a horse? If you can’t decide, check it out the next time you’re in front of a mirror. Think about your family. Take a look at the other folks at your job. I myself am a horse and my husband is a fish.

We have three kids: a fish, a horse and a pig. (By the way, this has nothing to do with how he has kept his room).

What I’ve seen when playing “HORSE or PIG or FISH?” is that a good many people get caught up in not wanting to be labeled a pig. Some are not so keen on being labeled a horse or a fish. We all have our biases.

Think: Did you put a negative spin on one of the three labels? Many do. If so, you took a bit of diversity and dubbed it undesirable. That’s how prejudice starts.

We look at something and instead of thinking neutral thoughts we lean toward making a negative judgment if it’s not aligned with our view of the world. This is how the human brain is wired.

We’re genetically conditioned to think negatively first when something doesn’t support or confirm how we think things should be.

The following experiment is an eye-opener guaranteed to help both adults and children move from one view of being critical to a second view of neutrality. Or even having a complete turn-around involving admiration.

If you put a baby on the floor and you lie next to the baby, trying to do everything the baby does, moving your arms and legs and head as much as the baby for a period of fifteen minutes, guess what? You can’t keep up with the baby. No matter how many times you work out each week or how many miles you can bike or how much weight you can lift. You run out of energy and become exhausted way before the baby does. In that way, the baby is superior to you.

Think of a street person. Isn’t she superior to you in how she braves the elements and demands little in life? How about the kid who whizzes by you on a skateboard? (I tried my kid’s skateboard years ago and about broke my neck.) How would you fair?

What about the guy who works in the hot sun putting on roofs? Or the gal who has fancy flowers and trees tattooed all over her right arm? You might not want a sleeve yourself, and you can’t figure out why someone else would want one, but would you have the courage to endure the pain that it takes to be tattooed with such elaborate artwork?

Each time you see someone that is unlike you or chooses to live life differently from you, remind yourself of the following: “Each person is in some way my superior, and in that I can learn from him.” So look around and see how each person — man, woman, and child — is superior. The more you’re able to operate from this mind-set, the greater your ethical capital.

Check out Doris’ latest books, “The Boy Whose Idea Could Feed the World,” “The Parent Teacher Discussion Guide,“ and “Thin Becomes You” at Doris’ web page: http://www.doriswildhelmering.com.

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