Heroes Not Zombies

One day I looked out over the vineyards and I saw this cloud formation. It looked like a tornado, but it wasn’t.

Now that I see it again, as a photo, I realise that this particular view, due to the phenomenon of perspective, makes this band of cloud look cone shaped.

But it wasn’t cone shaped. It was a band of dark cloud, like a wide path, moving across the sky.

That got me thinking about the whole phenomenon of how things appear to us….how everything has a distinct shape, or form, or looks patterned in a particular way….but that is always informed, or even, determined, by where we are standing….we the observers.

I think we tend to forget about that. Especially with social media where echo chambers are created as the algorithms push similar viewpoints and opinions towards us.

The truth is that we humans see reality most clearly when we share perspectives and communicate them without judging them.

We would all benefit from more diversity in science, in education, in health care, in government. Multidisciplinary and rich, inclusive teams, groups and communities offer us the chance to see the world as it really is….not just the way we are used to seeing it from only our own viewpoints.

After all, there’s a huge difference between a band of cloud, and a tornado!