mote-beam mechanism

mote-beam mechanism

The tendency to perceive—and to denounce—in others characteristics (e.g., prejudices, blind spots, ideologies, ethnocentrism, aggressiveness) that we ignore in ourselves.
The name comes from a passage in the Bible: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgement you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the mote (speck) that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the beam (log) that is in your own eye?” (Matthew 7.1–7.3).