Our vantage point about a subject leads to the way we perceive that subject. This basic concept has been one of the foundational causes of conflicts throughout humanity's history. I started thinking about this concept when a friend sent me a video clip from the late and the great George Carlin. I am sure there is no need for an introduction since he is a global figure, but for those who haven't heard his name, he was an American stand-up comedian who dominated that space for the latter part of the 20th century. The source of human struggle and conflict through the lens of corruption, politics, and organized religion became the main focus of his act in the last 25 to 30 years of his career. Although funny and entertaining, his stand-up comedy act was more like he professed more as a philosopher or a teacher, rather than an entertainer.

The clip was from a few minutes of one of his routines when he was talking about how most politicians divide us, in order to control us. I have heard and seen almost all of his material since I am a huge fan of his work, so the clip wasn't new to me, but what stood out was the source of the clip! The clip was sent to me a few months ago, before the 2024 US presidential election, by one of my right-leaning friends to condemn what Democrats were doing to manipulate people and gain votes in this country. The same clip (just to clarify, I am talking about the exact same clip, not different portions of the same stand-up routine) was sent to me a few days ago by one of my left-leaning friends to demonstrate how Republicans are now manipulating people to destroy this country.

The fact that perspective leads to perception is not a new concept; I remember reading about it in my elementary school books in one of the classical Persian Poems by Rumi called The Elephant in the Dark Room. Thanks to Coleman Barks, Rumi, especially this poem, is now known in America since he "roughly" translated Rumi's poetry. I am generally more comfortable calling his effort (or any efforts to translate Persian classics for that matter) interpretation rather than translation. Translating poetry is not just about the language and needs a much deeper understanding of the culture, both current and at the time of the poem. However, I am still very thankful for his efforts in introducing Rumi to English-speaking folks. I will add his interpretation of the poem at the end of this piece since the main point is basically what we are discussing here: People choose to understand, perceive, and judge things based on the lens they use to view things.

I reference the Iranian revolution of 1979 in many of my writings since it was a pivotal moment in my life and shaped me to be the person I am today in a fundamental way. To make it even more relevant to this piece, that experience changed my perspective about the world and became one of the significant filters for my perception about humanity. I saw first-hand how people doubted their common sense and left their individual perspectives behind to jump on the wave of an exciting collective consciousness that became the tsunami for radical change in Iran. That experience made me wary of career politicians since I saw their high-level manipulation tactics in action. I saw how they used propaganda to transform people's perception about their lives and convinced them that they were being wronged. Based on any survey taken since then, a significant majority of folks (more than 90%) lived much better lives before the revolution than after. The statistic is basically flipped now since less than 10% of uber-rich folks live comfortable lives in the current Iran. Even they are not happy since they need to watch for religious-morality cops and can't live freely. But at the time of the revolution, folks perceived their lives as being unsatisfactory and felt that they were being robbed of ALL their rights under the old system. Ironically, it only took less than a year for the new system to impose MUCH worse laws and ignore people's fundamental rights, like how to dress in public. They left a very good situation in a thriving country with a growing economy behind because they "thought" that they could do better. It became 100% certain for them that whatever came after Mohammad Reza Shah would be better for them and the country as a whole.

What makes our existence beautiful and painful, simultaneously, is our emotional drive. Most of us use emotions rather than logic when making critical life-altering decisions. I remember reading this referenced in a book called Switch, written by the Heath brothers. They phrased it in that book by describing our emotional drive as the elephant, and our logic as the driver of the elephant (this reference to an elephant is quensidental and unrelated to my earlier reference by Rumi). The elephant in this scenario is very powerful and can plow through barriers and stump over objects with its might to achieve its goals. It is essential for the rider of the elephant to use logic and to guide that massive force and direct its trajectory to reach an ideal outcome in life. Developing this skill and harnessing the wild elephant of our emotional drive requires dedication, discipline, and hard work. Unfortunately, humanity is distancing itself more and more from these virtues. The technological revolution of the 21st century is separating us from being grounded within ourselves. With all its positive advances, global connectivity is preventing us from forming a strong foundation and sense of self to take a deeper dive within, without being manipulated by our connected devices. It is ironic that with the magic of the Internet and instant access to a world of knowledge, we are far easier to be manipulated. We have a lot more information but a lot less wisdom when it comes to executing the power granted by that information.

In my humble opinion, it is becoming evermore essential to examine the massive flood of information coming our way with multiple lenses, not just the one that grabs the attention of the mighty elephant of our emotional drive. It might satisfy a sense of belonging when we find conviction for and a deep connection to a popular narrative. It can cause a fast release of endorphins and a feeling of righteousness when we post what we perceive to be accurate from our perspective. But it might be wiser to ponder, examine, and research more and tame our emotional drive to slow down a bit as we perceive (judge) events and people.

Be well,
Siamak

Some Hindus have an elephant to show.
No one here has ever seen an elephant.
They bring it at night to a dark room.
One by one, we go in the dark and come out
saying how we experience the animal.
One of us happens to touch the trunk.
"A water-pipe kind of creature."
Another, the ear. "A very strong, always moving
back and forth, fan-animal."
Another, the leg. "I find it still,
like a column on a temple."
Another touches the curved back.
"A leathery throne."
Another, the cleverest, feels the tusk.
"A rounded sword made of porcelain."
He's proud of his description.
Each of us touches one place
and understands the whole in that way.
The palm and the fingers feeling in the dark are
how the senses explore the reality of the elephant.
If each of us held a candle there,
and if we went in together,
we could see it.

Elephant in the dark.
Rumi

Feature image credit: agastyakapoor.in