In these politically polarized times, front-yard campaign signs can be viewed as warning labels.

“Caution: At least one person residing in this home is a moron.”

Or, if the sign supports a candidate you happen to favor, you could see it as an unqualified endorsement of the residents’ critical-thinking skills and sound judgment.

Sure. That’s easy.

What’s hard is reminding yourself that maybe campaign signs don’t really tell you all you need to know about some stranger. That’s why it helps to have an active imagination.

Let’s say you are making a run to the grocery store and your route takes you past three houses in a row all displaying signs for a candidate you regard as exceptionally noxious. It would be tempting to dismiss the unseen people who live there as dupes. And maybe they are.

But is it your experience that everyone in real life is one-dimensional?

OK, the people on that block don’t share your politics. Perhaps, though, one of them volunteers at a Spokane area animal shelter. Maybe another has a knack for saying encouraging things to troubled teens. And perhaps the third once stood up to a workplace bully who was making life hard for a member of a minority group.

You just don’t know.

When some simpleminded loudmouth encourages you to demonize all those who disagree with you about public policy, it’s an invitation to forget what you know about human nature. It’s an exhortation to believe that voting preferences tell you every single thing about a person.

Since when is that true?

Maybe someone displaying a sign for a candidate you support is a cowardly liar and backstabber at the office and regularly drives drunk?

Your political inclinations say a lot about you. But do they define you and express your worth as a person?

You make the call.

Once upon a time, we could disagree without hating the other side. Those were the days.

Today’s Slice question: Someone reviewing your recent Internet search history would be forced to conclude what?