A GLASS HALF-FULL
some rhyme. some reason
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Shankar Ramachandran
Jim Owen taught history at
Conway High School. I recently read about his opening lecture at the start of
the year.
As opening lectures go, this was
quite standard with Jim introducing himself, explaining how the classes would
go and so on.
20 minutes or so into class, a
group of four men in ski masks burst into the classroom. They brandished
weapons, knocked Mr. Owen down and stole his wallet. They then left just as
quickly as they came.
In the stunned silence that
followed, Jim Owen stood up, assured his students that he was all right and
explained that it was all staged. He then gave the class an assignment – to
write down everything they had witnessed. At the end of 10 minutes, Jim
collected the papers and sat down to read each paper aloud.
This was when the students had
their third shock of the morning, when they realized that each student’s
version of events was widely different. One said there were 4 men, while one
believed there were 3 men and 1 woman. Some said the group had guns, while one
student thought he had a knife. People even differed on what they stole – a
wallet to some, just cash to the others, a question paper for an upcoming exam
to some.
On finishing the last paper, Jim
stands up and says, “History is recorded from the perspective of who writes it.
As we have just learned, that can be very different depending on the author.
The victors in war will tell a very different story from the vanquished. Please
keep this in mind while we begin our journey through world history”.
What a stunning introduction
to history? And what better story can illustrate the meaning of the word,
‘perspective’. We have all heard the example of the half-full glass – some see
it as half empty. George Carlin commented that he saw it as a glass twice as
big as it needs to be.
Human
perception is fallible and biased by many factors. The only way to objectively
analyze something is to compare different perspectives and then come to a
considered understanding.
P.S.: For
more posts by Shankar, please visit his blog: absolemblog.wordpress.com
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