We all live in our own world. Whether you like it or not, the world as you perceive it is formed by your own paradigms. Easier said, the way you see the world is determined by your past and current experiences. Or, as I like to call it, we all look at the world through our own pair of glasses.
So let’s do a small experiment. Look at the pictures above; first look at the left side, then the right. You will probably see a young woman, with a cute little nose, attractive, who pays attention to her appearance. But I tell you that the woman on the right is 60, maybe 70 years old, with a big nose, a sad look in her eyes, and is not attractive whatsoever.
Which one of us of us is right?
Now look at the pictures below; first the left, then the right. Now you do see the old woman. Congratulations, you have just made a true paradigm shift! It may be a small one, but it is one. You have put on different glasses and thus perceive reality differently.
You can also switch between these paradigms pretty easily now, because you know how to look at each of the pictures. It is easy to switch glasses now. But had you only seen the young lady; would you have been as open minded to another interpretation of reality?
Let’s do another experiment. Look at the picture below and write down the first 5 questions that come to mind, when trying to figure out what it is. I can assure you, it is a genuine picture.
These questions are completely different, compared to when you would have known what the image is. Once you know, you are stuck in a paradigm you cannot get out of. You cannot ‘un-know’ what you know. It is very valuable to know that you cannot un-know things in everyday life either. But once you are aware of this fact, you can form questions which may not seem useful to your paradigm … but they may very well be to someone else’s.
If you want to know what’s on the picture, leave a comment and I’ll email you the answer.
July 10th, 2009 at 4:01 am
Very true… some of the hardest parts of personal development is trying to “unknow” what has been drilled into you as a child. And, figuring out what things are the correct things to stick with, and which aren’t. I love how you say that once you can open your mind to see the different pictures, your paradigm shifts. Good stuff!
July 10th, 2009 at 11:06 am
That is a good insight, the fact that we try to ‘unknow’ what has been drilled into us in childhood. I will have to go into that in more depth soon
July 13th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Very nice post.
July 13th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Thanks, I appreciate the feedback. I am going to post more articles along the lines of this one (actually I just have), so be sure to check back in if you have the time.
October 18th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Nice post…hmmm..here are the questions which first came to mind:
1. What are those 4 dots for?
2. Is this a landscape?
3. Is this a white shadow of a person? (duh)
Wow, can’t even find a 4th and 5th question. Hope to hear from you. really can’t wait for the answer.