Big T versus little t's...what a way to begin!

I am constantly intrigued by the notion of perspective as an individual way of regarding or understanding a situation (or topic, idea etc...) and its ultimate impact on the notion of absolute Truth (that is, Truth with a capital T).



The conclusion that I've come to regarding perspective is that it is ultimately an individual ‘thing’. You, I and the guy next door could all witness the same event, yet in recounting the event, it is highly unlikely that our accounts would match each other perfectly. So, who out of the three of us has told the absolute Truth about the event that we all witnessed? None of us! We have each witnessed the event from our own particular vantage point (physical, emotional, intellectual etc...) and formed our own understanding or perspective of it. We have essentially formed our own version of the truth.

This is not to say that our individual perspectives are wrong (or even right for that matter), but rather that the idea of one absolute Truth is unlikely, if not impossible. Instead, we have a bunch of lesser truths (lesser in the sense that they are not 1 absolute Truth) that we, as individuals, mistake for 'the Truth'!

This is what I find so cool!


By acknowledging that everyone has a different perspective and therefore different truths, I have to acknowledge that I am not a voice of absolute authority (although I usually wish I was). I can't actually say what any particular Truth is. I only know what my truth is. As bizarre as this might sound, I actually do take this as a positive thing. Now I have to make an effort to view a situation (idea, event etc...) from perspectives other than my own.



Now don't get me wrong...just because I try to view things from other peoples’ perspectives, doesn't mean that I have to agree with those people or even appreciate their points of view. Sometimes crap is just that...crap. But at least I can understand that someone else may view what I perceive to be crap, as something valuable and worthwhile. And vice versa.