How Much Does Being ‘Right’ Matter?

How much does being ‘right’ matter?

[For me? You? Us? Them?]

It is entirely possible for two people to look at the same thing, and come to entirely different conclusions.

I see the number 6 - you see the number 9.

And, depending on their perspective, someone else might see a snail … or a hook … or a referee’s whistle …

[When doing this exercise with groups, these are just some of the things people have described].

We all see the world through a series of paradigms - lenses - and we are often not aware that we do so.

As a simple example, even being able to see ‘6’ or ‘9’ depends on having a ‘western arabic numerals’ lens. I need to recognise a particular shape as representing a particular number. If I’m talking with someone who has an ‘eastern arabic numerals’ paradigm that uses different shapes, we would have to dig deeper than just “do you see a 6 or a 9?”

And I would have to dig deeper still with someone from the Yuki tribe, who use 8 as a base for counting, rather than 10.*

[Although in both cases, we might still agree on the snail or the hook].

My sense of being ‘right’ is dependent on my paradigms - on how I see the world.

I can either cling tightly to my paradigms, and dismiss yours -

Or I can learn to see through a different lens …

*As an aside, the Yuki counting system is based on ‘the spaces between’ our fingers, which is interesting in itself …