The Power of A Paradigm
Angelina Jolie & Catherine Zetajones. I'm sure yu know who they are? How beatiful they are? This is what we see from these 2 photos. The photo is worth thousand of words...that's what people always say.
OK now please scroll down....What do yu "first" see? What triggers yu to see and to perceive what it is? Why do yu think it causes yu to see the way yu see? What about if I say somebody else may have seen different thing.
So who's right? Why do yu think the sketch represents a young and beautiful lady...probably her age is about 25 years old. Do yu think it is absurd if I say the sketch is infact shows a very old and depressed woman...probably at the age of 70 years old. I still remember, we used to discuss with our lecturer about this sketch during my psychology class many many years ago.
This is about paradigm. The word paradigm originally comes from the Greek word "paradeigma" which means "pattern" or "example". Paradigm is what we "see" the world - not in terms of visual sense of sight but in terms of perceiving, understanding and interpreting. It is a map of territory.
Whether yu realize or not, the paradigm is a source of our behaviour and attitude. It is inseparable with our character i.e. what we "see" is what we are. The interesting thing is that two people may have looked at the same sketch, the same drawing, the same line, the same color...yet they may have perceived different thing. Why do they perceive different thing? I thought, the fact is the fact...1+1=2...and can not be something else. However, the reality is not that straight forward....what makes us see 1+1 and not 1+2 or 2+2?
It is all goes back to the "conditioning" prior to seeing the thing. In the case of the sketch, intentionally I showed yu the photos of Angelina and Catherine so that yu were conditioned to "see" a young and beautiful lady. And i believe, most people will first see the sketch as a young and beautiful lady.
OK...what have we learned from this:
- Paradigm does exist
- Not everybody has the same paradigm as we do
- What we "see" is greatly influenced by what has been conditioned upon us prior to the event. If 5 seconds of viewing the photos of Angelina & Catherine has influenced your judgement...what else compared to several years of being conditioned by similar sets of values.
- What we see is what we are...I will elaborate this topic in the future.
