perception is reality

i find it interesting how two people can precieve the same person or event completely differently.

we imbue everything with our experience in the world. with our hope and dreams and wishes. with our preconceptions, our biases, our hate.

it goes far beyond a question of what you like and what you don't like. the whole personal esthetic of that i can understand. i have a friend who can't stand 'actor-types'***. i have no problem with 'actor-types'. but at the same time i can see how they would be annoying, and i'm sure she can see how they could be entertaining. it's just a difference in taste between us.

but when one person sees someone as fundamentally bad, and another sees them as fundamentally good, and it's not based on any kind of moral belief (for instance, it's not a skin-head vs. a liberal minded person), it's jut a perception of actions, i find that facinating. so, say i have a friend bill (not the same bill as before) and bill goes over and talks to someone in the corner, and jane and i are standing there. i see bill's action as being polite to this person in the corner. jane see's bill's action as being rude because he's not talking to us. it's the same act, but we have seen it in a completely different way.

that's the kind of stuff that facinates me.


***'actor-types' are not to be confused with actors. some 'actor-types' are actors, but not all, and some actors (many really) are 'actor-types', but not all. i for instance am an actor, but i don't think i'm particularily an 'actor-type'.