{"id":4437,"date":"2015-02-28T07:21:18","date_gmt":"2015-02-28T12:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=4437"},"modified":"2015-02-28T07:41:56","modified_gmt":"2015-02-28T12:41:56","slug":"the-dress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=4437","title":{"rendered":"the dress"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bob-van-aubel-ray-bans\"<\/a>On Thursday the internet was flooded with a singular image (…perhaps to distract us from the massive internet regulations also adopted that day… but lest I digress…).<\/em> The image could simply be coined as \u201cTHE DRESS.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The picture posed on social media was of a new, colorful dress. Some saw it as white and gold; others saw it as black and blue; a small few found a minority variation. The ironic commonality between the two primary perspectives, no less, was that each person was certain<\/strong> they were right — 100% right.<\/em> Each was also equally certain that those who saw any different perspective was clearly, completely wrong. In most\u00a0minds, there was no logical way to view the scenario any differently.<\/p>\n

That means households were divided… families were divided… communities were divided. In other words, the presumed certainty of opinion led directly to division. Some of that division was intense.<\/p>\n

Prior to the suppression of the cyberspace intensity, an explanation of \u201cTHE DRESS\u201d<\/strong> phenomena was put forth. Simply, sort-of-scientifically put, the way light enters our eyes and hits our retinas stimulates neural connections to the part of our brains that processes those signals into an image. In other words, there is a legitimate reason, based on light and neural processing, that two people can look at the exact same scenario from the exact same angle and still see two completely different things.<\/p>\n

Allow me, no less,\u00a0to quote an insightful, sweet\u00a0friend: \u201cThe whole white\/gold-black\/blue dress thing was an eye-opening experience for my family… my teenage daughter said (somewhat dramatically), \u2018This makes me question whether everything I see is true.\u2019 The scientific explanation made us all feel a little relieved…YES, two people can look at the same thing and see something different. Our reality is shaped by our own perceptions. This was a great reminder of how important it is to be mindful of that when we disagree on other issues.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

What a fantastic point. Hence, I ask…<\/p>\n

Where else are we so certain that our perspective is clearly, completely right — and any other perspective is clearly, completely wrong? … where do we have zero understanding, grace, or respect for the person who sees things differently?<\/p>\n