Lisa Scottoline published a wonderful article in the 8-Mar-15 Philadelphia Inquirer. You may remember how the internet was all abuzz about the color of a dress. Some people saw a dress with blue and black horizontal stripes. Others saw a white and gold-striped dress.
I always enjoy reading Lisa’s Chick Wit column but was particularly intrigued this time as her comments on perspective were so aligned with mine. The reason people see the dress colors so differently has to do with the rods and cones in our eyes which perceive light differently in different people. She also mentions our human tendency to identify with certain teams to the point of proudly wearing their colors. The rest is quoted directly from Lisa as I can’t improve on her effort (perhaps that’s why she’s an award-winning author):
But sometimes, we think that if the other team doesn’t see things our way, the other team is wrong.
We forget that the difference in perspective is simply a difference, and not all differences are wrong.
Everybody’s moral rods and cones are individual, and we will always see the world in different ways.
The important thing is to respect the views of others, even when we secretly think they have no idea what the hell they’re talking about, or are completely and obviously wrong, or might even be out of their minds, because the facts are so clear to anyone with half a brain.
I hope you’ll take a moment to read her column and then remember her words next time you interact with someone whose opinion is so obviously wrong.
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