Perception.
So much of conflict (between people, countries etc) is because of our inability to arrive at a shared perspective on the world, on acceptable behavior, on what is fair, amongst other things.
Is this possible, in a world where each individual has such a unique outlook on the world?
I would argue that it is. Look at the example of color. We have all agreed to call the sky blue and an elephant grey.
There is no way that any of us can see the sky through another person's eyes and so we cannot know for sure whether they see the same thing that we do. In fact, I would argue that it is highly unlikely that seven billion people all perceive the same color when they look at the sky. But we have agreed to call in blue and that makes life possible. Imagine if each of us disagreed about something as basic as color!
How did universal acceptance that the sky is to be called blue / looks blue come about? If we can recreate this for thornier issues such as religion, the world would be a better place.
(This was Post 420!)
Is this possible, in a world where each individual has such a unique outlook on the world?
I would argue that it is. Look at the example of color. We have all agreed to call the sky blue and an elephant grey.
There is no way that any of us can see the sky through another person's eyes and so we cannot know for sure whether they see the same thing that we do. In fact, I would argue that it is highly unlikely that seven billion people all perceive the same color when they look at the sky. But we have agreed to call in blue and that makes life possible. Imagine if each of us disagreed about something as basic as color!
How did universal acceptance that the sky is to be called blue / looks blue come about? If we can recreate this for thornier issues such as religion, the world would be a better place.
(This was Post 420!)
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