The cost of an opinion
With Gen Z preoccupied by the cynical pursuit of meaning, expression and identity, it is so intuitive and convenient for one to make self-serving biases and egocentric opinions. We have been evolutionarily wired by a survival instinct to create schemas(stereotypes) and unconscious associations, such that our perception of the surrounding world becomes as effortless for ourselves as possible. This way, our cognition is well familiarized with how to behave/respond when confronted by an unexpected situation/event, and serves us in our defense.
But to what degree is this instinctive behaviour really applicable in today’s world, with fewer threats to be wary of?
Is it possible to detach from naïve realism and the belief ingrained in us that only we ourselves experience the world as it really is, rather than ‘as it appears from our perspective only’.
As socially interdependent organisms, it is important to eventually realize that every individual identity’s perception, cognition and sense of meaning is as vivid and true as our own seems to us. That they are wholly experienced and honest from their world-view, and what they feel and experience in their own light is as rich as ours, and that what they experience is genuine in their own right.
This simple realization, if deep enough, could bring about a profound transition in one’s lines of thought and guide us to see, feel and experience with a more open-ended perspective, and conclusively do more with this richer depth of cognition.
Besides the profoundness of just being able to be more mindful about one’s own thoughts and the ecosystem of thoughts and experiences constantly flooding our surroundings, this psychological state could be equipped for discovering possible whys, why nots and what ifs for that which spills beyond our narrow dimensions of individual perception.
But as conscious intellectual beings, how far can we go?
Going a step further,
The real challenge, is actually understanding and really comprehending what others experience through their body and brain. What they have been conditioned(learned to associate a certain experience with a certain reflexive emotion or behaviour) to see, feel, think or perceive; what a particular word semantically means to them(the word dance might mean two different things for two different people); or what they even associate to something as trivial as a certain sound(eg. are they triggered by a car horn because of a traumatic accident in the past).
//What if we could inhibit our mind from performing such unconscious processes and really just sat down to think about what the person on the opposite side of the table feels, thinks and experiences?
//Would we begin to see that we are not the only one that is right or rational in opinion? Would we begin to realize that every individual is equally as meaningful as we think we ourselves are?
//Would we be able to experience the presence of others and enter their thought bubble in a pure and unadulterated state?
And more importantly,
Would we be able to fathom the vividness of this realization of a non-egocentric perspective? Where everything can be equally right and wrong, but more so that every experience and emotion is a true identity by and of itself, detached from the comfort of either pole of an opinion.
How humbling would such an experience be?
In such a situation, where would the line of morality be drawn? Who would define these ‘absolute rights and wrongs’, or would there even be a requirement for any?
In the words of George Orwell as he was assigned to battle during the Spanish Civil war:
“A man was half dressed and holding up his trousers as he ran across the parapet while presumably carrying a message. I had come here to shoot down Fascists, but a man who is holding up his trousers isn’t a Fascist, he is visibly a fellow-creature, similar to yourself, and you don’t feel like shooting him”.
My personal take on this trail of thought is how we can leverage this perspective to influence research, design, and more profoundly, critical design. Would it help us open up and discover the right questions to ask?
