On Perspective

Perspective is an interesting thing if one delves deeply into it. Perspective is what cues us as to what a person may mean when speaking, much like small physical movements, which play into the understanding of language and that we read subconsciously, but perspective is different. Perspective actually tells us our opinion based on the information given. It is why we can disagree on what color an item is, what a quote really means or what an author or a poet is talking about. It is part of how we judge the actions and words of others, but we must be careful to remember that it is our perspective, which may not actually be the reality or the truth of any given situation. Ahhh, so helpful and yet, so dangerous.. like most matters of the mind. We cannot logically trust our perspectives to be unbiased and so it is not logical to trust our perspectives at all but to question them and reach beyond them for the truth. And what is the truth? Ahh, now that has to do with perspective in this winding circle of psychology and the human mind. Is it worth bothering with? Why not just trust our perspective on others and everything? Because our perspective is based upon, in great part our own experiences, the knowledge we have gained, the people who have surrounded and affected us...it is learned. Anything that is learned can be engineered and fed to you, anything that is engineered or created and fed to you can be biased and false and so, by the time your form your own perspective, you may be dealing not only with your own biases but with those that took part in forming what led to your perspective. It gets complicated, doesn't it? Is it even really what you truly think?

One of the most important things that they try to teach us in many fields of study is critical thinking, question everything. Science is a fine example of this. So many believe that scientists do not challenge what they are taught but their very job is to question every single thing, repeat it, test it and analyze results to see if they are indeed the same. They are the Kings and Queens of redundant checks and balances. No matter the field of study, we are taught to question every single thing, the greatest words from the greatest minds get tested because everything must be questioned and proven to be unbiased and true. Why? Because we as humans are naturally biased. And who are we to question those exalted by society? Seekers of truth and understanding, students, learners....all things must be questioned. Nothing is sacred and the more you and everyone around you are sure of it, the more it should be questioned and tested.

One of my favorite philosophers, Socrates, was a great proponent of questioning everything that you were sure you knew to be true. Perspective can be true or self-created illusion and it must constantly be reformed and recreated based upon the information that we can access. Philosophers were, in fact, our first scientists. Socrates used what is called the Socratic method, which was in great part asking questions that lead people to consider in-depth and question what they think they know, to challenge them to change their perspectives and to make up their own minds. I am, in fact, highly Socratic. Socrates was eventually killed by the government who saw the danger in what he was doing as people began to question the government itself and the laws and ways of life in which they lived. Well, truly, I suppose it was considered suicide, as he was given the option of drinking poison or shutting up and no longer questioning everything and he chose death over giving up personal growth and enlightenment. I suppose whether or not it was murder depends upon your personal perspective or point of view. But, which perspective is correct? Mine, yours, the next person's? What provides for having the correct perspective?

What is the correct perspective? Well, I suppose the closest one can get to being right is by having all the information possible on a given subject or action or person, etc. But, do we really truly have all of the information? No, we are not in a controlled lab which allows us to start an experiment from start to finish and this becomes even more important with people who were certainly not born in a lab or studied from birth by us and so we must admit that we do not have all the facts or all of the information required to truly form an absolutely correct perspective. No, we can only work with what information we have, which will most often be far from enough to form a true perspective that should not be questioned. So, I suppose we must always question ourselves if we have any interest at all in understanding the reality or truth of any given situation. There is no rest for the active and aware mind.

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Lady Stromfield