Perspective

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As one grows into the person he or she is meant to be, a person eventually develops his or her own unique perspective. A perspective determines how a person would probably act given a set of circumstances. How so? A person's peculiar perception dictates what he or she would give importance to or notice. Perception doesn't mean that an object is seen for what it is; it means that a person filters the information presented according to his or her experiences. The filter's holes differ in size and shape; a particular hole may come from an influential person or idea; a hole may exist from the beginning or disappear as time passes by.

 A perspective makes one selectively blind to a certain extent. A racist would refuse to see the benefits from a mixed-race group. A vegetarian wouldn't see how a vegetarian diet is unable to fully provide the nutrition required by the human body. An elitist wouldn't acknowledge the value of those who're of a lower economic class. Various philosophies would emphasize particular perspectives, yet not all of those philosophies would require a holistic approach to perception.

 Perspective, being unique to each person, thus produces subtly different results. A 10 year-old mathematical genius, confronted by a problem requiring the Pythagorean theorem for a solution, would see a commonplace event. A fourth-grade student, faced by the same situation, would marvel at the way the Pythagorean theorem works and, perhaps, be stimulated to learn more. The problem requiring the Pythagorean theorem has been solved, yet the results are different.

 The point stands; perspective colors, influences the results. To produce the most efficacious decision and action, a person must perceive using objective observation. A blank slate, a mind free of preconceived ideas, observes best because it takes everything in without bias. This does not mean that previous experience is discounted. Previous experience is educational; it helps avoid pointless repetition of mistakes. However, immediately filtering information at the get-go denies a person potentially useful information. Utilizing previous experience AFTER taking everything in allows a person to see the big picture, how this present situation connects to the past and future. Much is gained or lost depending on what is perceived.

 There is, however, a down-side to an all-perceiving approach. Such a method consumes much time and energy and there is no guarantee that each result would be less or more effective than a method that filters out data. Experience would be the only reliable judge of when not to use the filters granted by your unique perspective. That one's experience would more often than not contain mistakes than triumphs, if only by a small fraction, is a given. All in all, how a person uses his or her resources and how he or she judges the event, as dictated by a unique perspective, are the clinchers.