Perspective is Everything

We all view light the same way. It looks white to us. When we pass light through a prism, we are able to see the seven different spectrums of visible light. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. These are the colors of the rainbow. The rainbow is the sign of God’s covenant with man and his promise to never destroy the earth with water again. There are seven colors in God’s rainbow. Seven is the number of perfection.

The same is true for stories. There is no story that has a single viewpoint to it. There are always multiple perspectives to every story. View a story through one perspective and you come away thinking one thing and viewing the same story through a different perspective you can come away with the totally opposite understanding. This is why people can look at the same story and be on opposite sides of the issue. Only through viewing all perspectives can you have a complete picture.

Modern day humans have very short attention spans. We live by headline and soundbite. We rarely spend longer than a minute on anything and no one takes the time to look for the other perspectives. If a headline or soundbite agrees with an opinion we have already formed, we take it as truth with little question.

Advertisers have known this since the invention of advertising. Advertising is nothing more than mind manipulation to get you to want a product in the hope that you will buy it. Advertising works, so much so that we are inundated by it. There is no place we can go to escape it.

In the golden age of television news agencies were like Adam 12. They presented the facts and allowed the viewer to decide for themselves what they thought on an issue. True journalism no longer exists today. What we have instead are op eds that try to get you to think a certain way. In an attempt to be first, journalists bring us stories long before all the facts are known and try to sway public opinion to their way of thinking. News is no longer about presenting just the facts for you to decide what you think on your own.

The devil has found it very easy to manipulate us through our emotions. People no longer take the time to get all of the facts before having a knee-jerk reaction. If you don’t like someone, publicly call them a racist, even if that person doesn’t have a racist bone in their body. People will hear it and believe it without ever looking to see if there is any merit in the claim. Soon their name becomes synonymous with racism and anything they stand behind is also viewed as racist.

This has allowed the devil to get us to separate ourselves into groups that hate each other. Democrat, republican, liberal, conservative, black, and white. If you are not in the group I am in you are evil and wrong. You should be destroyed. That kind of hate has made it very easy for us to be manipulated by emotion. Stories no longer have to be true to be believed. They just have to back up what we already believe is true.

What we should be doing, especially in this age of false news and artificial intelligence, is to question every story we read before we form strong opinions one way or another. Is this story true? Is it telling me a complete picture? What are the other perspectives? What aren’t I being told and why? You cannot honestly begin to form an informed opinion without knowing these things and I am sure you have heard what is said about opinions. Opinions are like certain body parts. Everyone has one and most don’t smell so nice.

Another good question to ask is, “Is this story presenting facts or is it trying to manipulate me to feel a certain way.” Any story that is trying to manipulate your feelings should be avoided.

The Triple-Filter Test

In ancient Greece, Socrates was visited by an acquaintance of his. Eager to share some juicy gossip, the man asked Socrates if he would like to know the story he just heard about a friend of theirs. Socrates replied that before the man spoke, he needed to pass the “Triple-Filter Test”.

The first filter, Socrates explained to his acquaintance, is truth.

“Have you made absolutely sure that what you were about to say is true?”

The man shook his head. “No, I actually just heard about it, and…” Socrates cut him off.

“You don’t know for certain that is true, then? Is what you want to say something good or kind?“

Again, the man shook his head. “No! Actually. Just the opposite. You see…”

Socrates lifted his hand to stop the man from continuing.

“So, you are not certain that what you want to say is true, and it isn’t good or kind. One filter still remains, though, so you may yet still tell me. Is it usefulness or necessity. Is this information useful or necessary to me?”

A little defeated, the man replied, “No, not really.”

“Well, then, “ Socrates said, turning on his heel. “If what you want to say is neither true, nor good or kind, nor useful or necessary, please don’t say anything at all.”

We should all apply the triple-filter test to, first, the things we say and, second, to what we allow to manipulate our emotions. What we will find are a lot fewer reasons to hate each other, and that is a very good thing.

“Never let evil talk pass your lips; say only the good things men need to hear, things that will really help them. Do nothing that will sadden the Holy Spirit with whom you were sealed against the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, all passion and anger, harsh words, slander, and malice of every kind. In place of these, be kind to one another, compassionate, and mutually forgiving, just as God has forgiven you in Christ.” - Ephesians 4:29-32