Everyone is
always right from their subjective point of view!
It doesn’t
mean they are right and it also doesn’t make them right, but everyone is
always right from their point of view!
Consequently,
unless and until we “try on for size" the other person’s frame of
reference, it will not be possible to see the world as they view it.
As a
case-in-point, consider the following example, viz., how much is half of
eight?
Most people
will say the answer is four.
In fact, they
will often insist that there is really only one correct answer and any
other point of view must be wrong.
Now suppose
someone else comes along who “hears the beat of a different drummer”.
We ask this
individual to answer the same question and their reply is: “That’s
easy”, “one half of eight is zero!”
Our eyes open
wide, our jaw hits the top of our shoes and we quickly conclude the
other person must surely be nuts because everyone knows that one half of
eight can only be four!
However,
suppose we “try on for size” the frame of reference of the other person
and invite them to let us in on how they see the situation.
We ask, “What
do you mean?”
They reply
that one half of 8 is 0.
I’ll show
you.
See!
One zero
added onto another zero is 8, like a snowman.
Take half of
the snowman away and you end up with a big fat zero!
So, too, with
all perception, everyone is always right from their subjective point of
view.
Unless, and
until, we “try on for size” the frame of reference of the other person,
we will virtually never share an overlapping perspective.
If two people
never see the same thing, how can they share in the experience of it?
And if two
people don’t work toward sharing a common frame of reference, how will
they ever share their lives?
Once two
people can “see” that one half of eight can be four and can also
be zero, only then will both forever be changed.
Never again
will either insist that the only correct point of view is their point of
view.
Rather, the
more useful point of view will likely be the shared or overlapping point
of view.
Then, it may
be possible to see how one half of eight can, under other circumstances,
be 3, 8 and 1.
