We can’t believe everything we think. We can’t believe everything we feel.
—Cheerful Monk
We played with a Pet’s Eye View camera, illustrated in the picture on the left, when Kaitlin and Torben came for Christmas with their dogs, Sammy and Banshee. The last three photos were taken when Banshee was wearing the device…when we put it on Sammy we mostly got pictures of his fur. Even when Banshee was wearing the camera the pictures weren’t always in focus, and the ones that were showed a view that we hadn’t seen.
For me it was a great reminder that my view of reality is often different from what other people are perceiving. And, similar to the case of Sammy, sometimes what I think is happening in the outside world is really more about what’s going inside me. If I have a lot of emotional baggage about an issue, I might just be seeing my own projections.
So it turns out the camera was a success…it was educational as well as fun. I don’t know about you, but I learn best when I’m playing.
What About You?
I hope you all had a good Christmas. Was it fun and/or educational?
We do not celebrate any festival Jean. My wife Urmeela and I have always believed that every day is a festival and very early in our married life we decided not to celebrate any. Urmeela is a Christian incidentally, and I a Hindu. When Ranjan, our son was little, we used to get him all the goodies that all children of various communities got and so he never missed out on the spirit. Once he grew up he too agreed with us and that is the way it has been since.
We however receive a lot of visitors from all communities whenever they celebrate their individual festivals, and this Christmas was no different. There were so many Christmas cakes and goodies that, all four of us at home must have put on at least a few Kgs each! We did have a lot of visitors and a lot of laughter.
rummusers last blog post..Capitalism
rummuser,
That would be my preference, too, but my husband likes to celebrate Christmas. We’ve always kept it low-key so it’s not a big deal one way or the other.
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I always appreciate it.
Imagining how the world looks, by using a camera to follow the eyes of a different organism, does a lot to give us a sense that we have our own view. Also, this is only the visual difference that we have, and then there are numerous psychological factors that we might take into account as well. Also, the other organism may even have different visual characteristics. This process tends to reduce our egocentric view.
Armen Shirvanians last blog post..Wisely Playing the Ultimatum Game
As a boy, I used to like sitting up-side-down on a chair and imagine that the ceiling was the floor and vice-versa.
We visited two families for Christmas on different days. I’m sure I learned something, but it was more a matter of meeting many new people and discovering that I can, in fact, remember a few of their names if I listen carefully enough.
Square Peg Guy,
I love the idea of looking at things upside down. 🙂
I’m with you…remembering names the first time I meet people is a challenge.
Armen,
I’m all for reducing our egocentric view. It’s so stultifying.