Perspective

I have always heard that no two people will ever see the same event the same way. In my experience this has always been true. Each person watches things through the window of his or her beliefs and preconceived notions about what actually happened. Each individual’s experiences give them a view that no one else can duplicate. An engineer can see a problem and tries to find a better design. The mechanic sees the same problem and tries to fix it. The poet sees it and writes a ballad in tribute to those in the problem. A doctor looks and tries to find a cure. A scientist tries to analyze and quantify the problem. Yet each person sees the same occurrence. Three different people can watch the same movie and come away with different things. One person will comment on the special effects and filming techniques, one will marvel at the dialogue and interaction of the characters, and one will be in awe of the casting. Three people seeing the same thing in different ways.

These differences in perspective make our world a delightful and interesting place to live. Imagine all the different things that perspective brings to us. How many different ways are there to cook chicken? What if everyone drove the same type and color of car? How bland would a city be if all the buildings were identical? How boring would life be if we all wore the same uniform. This when we look at it, the differences in our world, even the ones we don’t like (provided that they aren’t immoral or unlawful), are what make each day a spectacular rainbow of variance and diversity. And in some ways our having a different perspective on things brings us closer together. It gives us a need for one another that would not exist otherwise.