Have you ever felt sad or maybe pitied people who are blind or even colour-blind?
There is a very interesting incident that I met with and I would like to share it to all of you who are out there. In my course of study in SMU (Singapore Management University), I stumbled upon a friend who is actually colour-blind! He looks just like any normal people, but he can't differentiate between colours like purple & blue and yellow & green! Isn't it amazing? This caused me to be extremely curious when I first heard that he was colour-blind. My evil behaviours/curosity led me to the constant testing of how he would perceive colours.
Experiment 1:
I highlighted a portion of the paper with purple and another portion with blue. Knowing that I was "testing" him and he gave the correct answer. I asked him how he knew which was which and he replied that it was due to the relative gradients of the colours. This led me to experiment 2.
Experiment 2:
This time, I folded the paper into 2 and coloured both sides differently (one purple and one blue). To my surprise, he actually said that both are blue! Isn't it amazing? I have never seen a person who is colour-blind!
Ok. That's besides the point. These two experiments led me to two conclusions.
1. Many things in life is relative
For example, if you go out with your friends and your friends are always late (say 30 mins late) and you are actually 15 mins late. Comparatively, you are early because you have to wait for your friend's arrival. Conversely, if your friend is always on time ans you are still 15 mins late, you would be considered as late. Hence, this concludes that in life many things are relative, being 15 min late, you may be perceived as early in one and late in the other.
2. Different Perceptions
While conversing with my friend with regards to his colour-blindness, I was actually very ignorant and mentioned that "Isn't it very sad that you can't see all the colours? Like God has created a magnificant spectum of colours and yet you can only see the basic colours." However, he gave me an answer that really struck me. He said "However, you will never be able to see what I see". This statement is really true! Although society has prompted us to help the needy and helpless, we don't always have to sympathize them. You see, they may be enjoying their lives in their own ways that you may never experience.
For example, imagine a boy whose parents are rich and could provide him with anything he wants. Then in school, this boy meets another boy who is really poor and have nothing but a piece of bread for lunch. In your perception, who do you think is more well off? On the surface, the rich boy may look more well off. However, if you realised that the piece of bread was made by the poor boy's mother, would you in turn say that the poor boy is more well off? The perception of "well off" can be differentiated into material and emotional. The poor boy may be more well off emotionally while the rich boy may be more well off materialistically.
So what is your perceptions of life? Which one would you wish to be? The poor boy or the rich boy?
I totally agree with what your friend said. unless you are in the person's shoes, you don't know jackshit and in this instance, the way they perceive things. so the whole pity act and sympathy crap should always always be kept in a empty ketchup bottle and hidden away in the Bukit Timah reserve under the tembusu tree. too often we dun know how to deal when we are around the disabled, people whose family/close friends/pet has died or kids from broken families so we just say "I am sorry" without thinking what the hell are we even sorry for, do we even understand what a cripple feels or know the person or the family/friend/pet that left them all that well? Hypocritical as all humans are, we do that all the freaking time in our lives. The differences of life experiences makes it very difficult for us to understand another person.
ReplyDeleteLove all your entries so far...
ReplyDeleteI'll definitely choose to be e 'poor' boy. In this case, whether or not someone is 'poor' is also dependent on how u perceive it. I wouldn't want to be seen as having everything on e outside but yet, ironically, feel so empty on e inside and have 'nothing' in actual fact. Otherwise, I'll will just be a mere glittering facade.
Although it is very tempting to envy the 'materialistically' wealthy at times, I understand deep inside that emotional and spiritual wealth is much more sastifying and lasting.
Wow!"pity act and sympathy crap" are really strong words. But I guess, sometimes some people just feel the empathy for them. It's not really wrong as some people might still need alot of help. We just need to identify the right people to help. (I guess) =)
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that sometimes people apologise for the wrong reasons. I guess in the case where a someone pass away, maybe they can comfort the family with words like "be strong, for the people around you still love you and need you". Alternatively, we can give a nod of comfort and assurance.
Anyway, I would love to be the 'poor' boy too. Just having money is really not enough for me. I would love the riches of life. That includes all my friends, family and future family. (For those who know what I'm talking about)
In no way can we be in the other person's shoe.
ReplyDeleteA gesture of sympathy does not mean that you fake it or acted it out.
All human are hypocritical is a grand theory.
u say that now, u wanna be a poor boy. when the time really comes trust me you will be blaming someone usually in this case, god, for it.
ReplyDelete