What does it mean to ‘look through someone else’s eyes’? How does one learn the mental gymnastics to do such a thing? Why is having flexibility in perspective so important?

When it comes to how we see the world, in a way, we are all goldfish. Whatever it is we are swimming in becomes invisible to us.

Due to the fact that we all live inside our own heads, it becomes hard to imagine seeing the world any other way. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just the way we were designed.

Where we get hung up, however, is when we accidentally make the assumption that other people see things the same way. Our subjective experience is entirely personal and subject to our own interpretation. As John Lennon famously said, “Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.”

Technology makes a lot of promises, but the idea of getting inside someone else’s head remains a fantasy. The Vulcan mind-meld that Mr. Spock made so famous on Star Trek is the stuff of science fiction, not the real world.

It’s tempting to think that we can all live in our own bespoke realities and still get along, but in order for society to function, we need to have a shared baseline that is based on facts. A.I. and algorithms do a great job of telling us what we want to hear, but if theories run counter to objective reality, progress towards the greater good is impossible.

Fortunately, we have our imaginations. With a little effort, they can be strengthened like any other muscle. It’s like getting a glimpse of yourself from a new angle in a store window or seeing a photograph that shows you in a different light.

We don’t have to literally walk a mile in someone else’s shoes before we can imagine their point of view. The beauty of our minds is that we can do thought experiments at will.

Occasionally, I find myself identifying with the protagonist of The Big Lebowski. Somehow he sums up the zeitgeist of a particular breed of American male. I find it easy to occasionally see the world through the eyes of The Dude.

Stretching my brain a bit further, I can see that it’s much different than, for instance, the view through Hunter S Thompson‘s glasses or what was written by the pen of Tom Wolfe. You probably have a few characters in your pantheon of personalities that are easy to inhabit as well. Dancing between perspectives is valuable jujitsu for the mind.

We humans are lucky. We have a monopoly on imagination. The trick is to keep our minds limber enough to make the most of it.

May your day be lively and your week be lovely! See you next Monday!

Merci et à bientôt!

M+

ML #628

Mark Metz
Monday Love
Music & Movement Calendar