Vision and Understanding
Posted on Feb 03, 2010
A friend of mine once had what you might call an eye-opening experience when it was time for her driver’s license renewal. That particular year she discovered that the process required that she appear in person at her local DMV office. Things were going well when she was asked to take the vision exam. The left eye exam went flawlessly and then the attendant requested, “Now, let’s move to the right eye.” “There is nothing on the right side,” she said. “Now, madam, there certainly IS a right side,” said the DMV agent sternly. “Really, come check your viewer, the right side is blank!” insisted my friend. After some apparently persuasive give-and-take, the DMV attendant walked around the counter to peer through the viewer herself. Voila! There WAS a right side; it was simply an indistinguishable blur to Susan. It seems that when Susan’s contact lenses were prescribed, she only required distance correction. To avoid confusion during close-up computer work she wore only one contact lens! After a doctor’s verification that all really was in focus, Susan was allowed back behind the wheel.
It is easy to recall individuals trapped by analogous situations. As Mark Twain famously observed, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” When we become so comfortable with a preconceived notion, a justifying explanation or a carefully crafted rationalization that they become our “vision,” we are at risk for one of Susan’s eye-opening experiences. At such times, we are tempted to believe that there is no need to check further; after all we are seeing things just fine. If we become too entrenched, even though the conflicting evidence supplied by external checks and balances screams that our “vision” is incorrect, we labor first to explain that it is the “machinery,” which is in need of repair. What we need is vision correction in each eye!
As we navigate our way through life we all have multiple opportunities to reflect upon our vision and understanding. It is helpful to have trusted observers verify our interpretations and to have cultivated enough personal humility to heed Mark Twain’s warning. It is also helpful to remember that we cannot make someone see an alternative view. What we can do is to explain how WE see it and then move on to tilt other windmills. Besides, there is safety in the vision of the group and with any luck we will not all see the same mirage at the same time!
