My Two-Bit Opinion #4: Perspective

This cartoon illustrates, among other things, the fundamental Truth of existence that reality depends upon perspective. As Obi-Wan Kenobi said to Luke Skywalker, "You'll find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."

It would seem at first that the last panel undermines the statements previously made. It does not. Both of these gentlemen are absolutely correct in everything they say, particularly in panel 4. Their discoveries were made possible only via their alienation from the popular group. Very often the outsider's perspective is more revealing than the insider's.

This fact is made apparent to me every time I travel. I discover something new every time I leave Arkansas. I highly recommend that every citizen of every state leave at least once in their life to some non-neighboring state, preferably to a major metropolis, and if at all possible, a foreign country. The further you go, the more you learn.

In New York City, I discovered a metaphoric situation that illustrates my point. The World Trade Center towers and the Empire State Building are among the grandest, most challenging and tallest creations of mankind. Yet, as important as they are, they are not easily visible in most parts of Manhattan. It is possible to stand a mere block away from the World Trade Center and not see it. Your vision is easily obscured by smaller buildings. The best view of the World Trade Center is to be found from miles away, off the coast perhaps, or in Brooklyn. Is that not ironic? The glory and grandeur of Manhattan being best viewed by the great unwashed "bridge and tunnel people."

This is an excellent metaphor for much of human existence. The largest things are often the most difficult to see.

Then I went to Europe. And by traveling across it from Spain to Germany to Scotland, I learned a great deal more about the USA than I did about the EU. I never realized how much room we have to spare, how much money we have to spend, how big and warm my house really is. I never knew how conservative we are, how arrogant, how uncouth, how thoughtless, how fat and how free. I never in my life thought I could describe Arkansas weather as "wonderful."

As I mentioned in the last TBO, reality is built on comparisons. My understanding of the USA was multiplied tenfold in just three months.

Getting back to the cartoon, I feel an affinity for those boys. I was one of them ("NO!" I hear you exclaim). Being outside of the mainstream social group allows for a much better understanding of humanity. So much can be learned about human nature by observing humans rather than by participating in their odd rituals. This is certainly not to say that I haven't participated in my share of odd rituals (serenading freshmen girls in your underwear, anyone?), but being sociologically aware of the situation allowed me to continue learning while participating. The games humans play with each other are complex and confusing, and if I sound like some sort of alien anthropologist, it may be because I've never had much interest in games.

In any event, I think that the nerds who are tagged out of the social game, or who are picked last for the team, will often be blessed with a greater awareness of themselves and their situation. And not just because they'll have the spare time to navel gaze. People involved in the fakeness and fraud of adolescent social games are often unaware that they're even playing. They don't realize that there is a world beyond what they know, beyond the appearances and norms encoded into their brains by popular music, movies and television. Few break the bonds. I was lucky enough in high school to have a social group that was committed to eccentricity and creativity, otherwise I could have become a "normal" person.

But this is for another installment of TBO. Perspective is the point. Only by changing one's perspective on something can a more accurate representation of the truth be revealed. Only by viewing New York from a distance can you comprehend its magnitude. Only by leaving your home can you fully understand it. Only by being an outsider can you see what's going on inside.

Rack up some more paradoxes for this universe: To understand your home, you must leave it. To see what is near you, you must step away.