On Perspective

Med School currently sucks.
Exams are arseholes.
But i still love med school. =D


So anyway. Perspective. Its a beautiful thing. A persons entire livelyhood can be classified as good or bad simply on his or her perspective. What a person perceives, whether completely accurate or ridiculously false, is real and indisputable to that person. The world isnt built on atoms or quarks, elements or compounds, roads or buildings. No.
This world is built on perspective.

This world? Did i say this world? There is no such thing! Due to this amazing thing called perspective, no one really shares a common world. We all have our own unique little worlds, seperate from each other and yet irresistably entwined together. Your world begins when you're born, is shattered when your girlfriend sleeps with your best friend, and ends when you die (hopefully before that bastard of a best friend). Your marriage, your fathers death, your sisters graduation, your first job, all these events have a huge impact on your world. But no one seems to care, really. Despite all these potential life shattering events, the world spins on, people keep living. No one cares. No one even seems to know!
Why?
Because all these events are in YOUR world. Everyone else had their own world, free of your issues, but filled with their own happenings, none of which you really give a damn about.

A problem that might plague you, drive you up the wall, may seem like a real bed of roses with extra blessings on it to some people. This said, the greatest, most fulfilling triumph you have ever experiences may seem like the worst kind of curse when seen through someone elses perspectives.

Oh, the inequality!

Perspective really seems to seperate us. With different perspectives, no one is ever really going to agree with anyone! How are we gonna survive this? Disagreements, arguements, fights, fist-fights, battles, wars! We're all gonnna diiiiieeeeeee!

Ok, maybe i'm over reacting slightly. I'm looking at one extreme end of the spectrum. We've gotten on quite well, seeing as there are nine billion different perspectives in the world today. Ok, there have been a few wars, but hey, there are still alot of people alive. When you think about it, the world isnt going too badly.

But this realisation of the differences in perspectives isnt necessarily bad. While it can be a bit scary, it also opens up the door that comes with all episodes of realisation. The opportunity for understanding is now available.
If everyone realised that everyone else has a different perspective on life, and thinks in a very different way, people would get along so much better. For example, its hard to be angry with that best friend of yours when you understand that from his perspective, he was just an innocent guy who succumbed to the strong (very strong) pressure exerted by his balls. You might even realise that if you had been in his situation, you wouldnt have fared much better.
Not so much of a bastard anymore, is he?

But this understanding can be applied to problems alot larger in scale than your girlfriend cheating on you (yes, there are bigger problems. Like my exams). If George Bush realises what Osama thought, and Osama understood Bush's point of view, maybe alot of lives could have been saved. Maybe those planes would've still crashed into twin towers. But maybe Osama would've thought, 'hey, these people are not really out to get rid of my religion. They just want to live life their own way. Why shouldnt i let them?' And maybe Bush would've thought 'hey, these people are trying to get a point across. Maybe i should try to talk to them, instead of invading their country!'.

Think of the potential. Its not the same as everyone actually thinking in the same way. That would be monotonous and boring. But with understanding, everyone still retains their own personal views, while making allowances for the views of everyone else.

And with this understanding comes respect. With worldwide respect, well, alot more people would be happier. And everyone will be wiser.

This post comes with two morals, in the end. The first moral, of course, is we should all put in the extra effort to understand why someone does what he does, and to discern where a difference in perspective could cause a conflict, and how compromise to avoid said conflicts. We could all actually make the world a better place.

And the second moral of the story is, if i ever sleep with your girlfriend, dont blame me.
Blame perspective.