A Matter of Perspective

Most of my long-term readers know that I have a bit of an obsession with how the brain works.  Given my family history, I have some legitimate concerns, as well as some irrational fears, about my own brain’s functioning.

Moreover, I frankly think cognitive science is cool.

With that said, then, it should be little wonder that I found myself watching, Paul Bloom, Yale Professor of Psychology, give a talk that he titled “The Origins of Pleasure”.  Interestingly, he spoke more about perceptions and provenance than about objects or actions.

His premise: where something comes from effects how much we may enjoy it.  He used the example of undetected forgery.  While the forgery remains undetected, the painting may be beloved for its superior technique, subtle tones or peaceful scene.  Once discovered to be a fake, the object, physically unchanged, has less appeal…even among those who lost no money in the deal.

Bloom speaks of a controlled experiment in which subjects were administered electric shocks by a person in another room.  Among those who were told that the person in the other room had no idea what was on the other end of the button they were pushing, the first shock was a doozy, but subsequent ones were reported to be more bearable.  Those who were told that the person in the other room was shocking them on purpose found that every last shock hurt like hell.

How’s that?  It hurts less if we don’t think it is on purpose?

Hmmm…

Well, not being a fan of electric shocks, I’ll take their word for it.

I just thought it was interesting to see such clear evidence that how we perceive something is so clearly dependent on how we perceive its origins.

This is not rocket science.  It is one of the things that factor into our emotional intelligence.

What we say matters, but where our words are coming from may matter even more.

Perspective matters.

 

 

Something To Talk About

The photo itself is gorgeous; somber, misty setting; majestic wildlife.  It really is quite the shot by amateur photographer Frank Glick.

When a friend sent it to me in email, I called it “beautiful and haunting”, but a few hours have passed, and I have been thinking…

Before passing along the photo to some other folks whom I thought would be interested, I googled the story, fearing that I would find that the photo was staged or ,worse, photoshop’d.

It wasn’t.

Reading the article attached to the photo, it occurred to me that it also wasn’t just a great photo.

The photo became the jumping off point for a whole different story.  The story did not end with a “Photo of the Week” caption, but with a life revisited.  It provided a chance for a life-long friend to reminisce and a widow to once again be assured that the man that she loved for so many years, although gone, was not forgotten.

The scene captured within the camera frame is not just symbolically patriotic, but a reminder to those who cared about the man buried there that this man was special.  Truthfully, it is hoped, that each and every one of those headstones mark the final resting place of someone who was special to someone.

The story’s headline declares “The Eagle Could Not Have Picked a Better Person”.  Would there still be a story; maybe similar, maybe not; had the eagle alit two stones over?  Or three?  Or ten?  I’d like to think so.

In reading the story behind the photo, I found myself wondering how many other folks would benefit from a chance to break out their own photo albums and share those whom they have loved and lost with someone who finds themselves suddenly interested.  How many folks have I crossed paths with who need a chance to talk?  Who needs to be called upon to reminisce?  Who else needs to be chosen?