At church today Fr. Rick talked about the different ways that people see the world around them. He specifically mentioned an optometrist that experimented with the notion that how we see, the actual mechanics of each individuals sensory interpretation, determines a lot about who we are.
This optometrist was of the opinion that if two people swapped eyes, they would be unable to navigate the room they just entered because the simple fact of seeing is so different from one person to the next.
Is that true? Certainly people bring their own set of experiences, expectations, memory, and past history to every life encounter. But do we really see the world so differently?
Anyone who has ever hung out with my friends for any length of time can attest to the fact that we do approach the world differently. Is this a function of our personality, our education, or our expectations of ourselves, of others, and of the world that we want to see? Do we really see differently?
I do know that I (at least superficially) see differently than others, because I have periodic double-vision thanks to a right eye that won't stay still and wanders a bit. This disrupts ideal stereoscopic vision and results in image duplication. So, I see two of things when I stare. How does that affect the way I view the world and how it should be? If someone else borrowed my eyes, would they gain some sort of insight into my personality and my life? (This is all sounding a bit like Being John Malkovich, but I think similar questions are being raised.
I don't know. I suppose I just wanted to throw the ideas out there and see what other people thought. Church sermons (the good ones especially) make me get all introspective.
1 comment:
Most of people seeing things "differently" from one another is psychological, you know that. Now, if someone stuffed a dog or cat's eyes in your head, you would see things differently!
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