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Why do we see things so differently?

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
Different humans understand things differently because they are... well... different. It's not really much more profound than that. One could go on with metaphors or fancy analogies, but it really boils down to that simple fact. This applies beyond humans as well. Things are different (that is, they are never identical). Therefore they understand things differently (that is, never identically).
 

robocop (actually)

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I have noticed that we sometimes get very long discussions about topics within religion and even between different people from same religion there are different views of what they scriptires means.

In my own search for the truth i found that when i speak with buddhists from same branch (theravada) even then we can see a topic totally different. To me this is not strage because i see that what has happend is that we are on different level of understading or wisdom if you like. What does this mean? it only means that when we study the same teachings/ dhamma we will only understand the teaching up to the level we have risen to.

What is your thought of this question? (why do we see things so differently)
In Adam Ruins it All, there was an episode about the backfire effect. When people hear they are wrong, they are more likely to believe they are right even more than to change because it causes pain to change your mind.
 

dybmh

דניאל יוסף בן מאיר הירש
it causes pain to change your mind.

This is really interesting. I think it's true for most people. And i think this condition becomes more pronounced with age and in isolated communities that are not exposed to different cultures, beliefs, and non-beliefs.

I hope that, for myself, awareness of this condition and being proactive against it will help me from becoming close-minded and resistant to change as i get older.
 

InvestigateTruth

Well-Known Member
I have noticed that we sometimes get very long discussions about topics within religion and even between different people from same religion there are different views of what they scriptires means.

In my own search for the truth i found that when i speak with buddhists from same branch (theravada) even then we can see a topic totally different. To me this is not strage because i see that what has happend is that we are on different level of understading or wisdom if you like. What does this mean? it only means that when we study the same teachings/ dhamma we will only understand the teaching up to the level we have risen to.

What is your thought of this question? (why do we see things so differently)
In reality, I think the reason we see things differently, is our prejudice. People see things the way they want, not the way that it is really.
 

Nakosis

Non-Binary Physicalist
Premium Member
I have noticed that we sometimes get very long discussions about topics within religion and even between different people from same religion there are different views of what they scriptires means.

In my own search for the truth i found that when i speak with buddhists from same branch (theravada) even then we can see a topic totally different. To me this is not strage because i see that what has happend is that we are on different level of understading or wisdom if you like. What does this mean? it only means that when we study the same teachings/ dhamma we will only understand the teaching up to the level we have risen to.

What is your thought of this question? (why do we see things so differently)

Because we are individuals. Individual minds with individual experiences. We don't experience reality directly. We experience realty via information filter by our subconscious mind. The programming of our subconscious mind is very complex and very difficult to analyze especially since it is not something we are consciously aware of.

The commonality we do experience is through the conscious transfer of information. Ideas like religion, politics, culture create a framework for us to consciously view the world. However since we have limited control of what we consciously experience, what we do consciously experience can differ sufficiently from individual to individual that we attach these ideas to different experiences.

So when we talk about these ideas, they are actually based off a different set of experience that we try to fit into a common framework of ideas.
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
It's partly inevitable. As others have stated, each one of us gets our own, completely unique take at life. No two lives led can ever be exactly the same. Differences in genetics, environment, education, exposure to ideas, sense perceptions etc. Quite impossible to have the same experience as another.

Beyond this, sadly (and even I perpetrate this, not saying I am above it) we all strive to be "most correct" or to believe our views on something to be more correct than others. This also, I believe, is mainly out of our hands. From an evolutionary view on it, taking stock of ourselves as social creatures, we're likely all primed to attempt to be "alpha" within our spheres of influence. But with our ability to rationalize and empathize, and in today's day and age, we don't just go around smacking down others to establish our "alpha" status, nor do we get smacked down. So this urge reveals itself along more subtle avenues. Like always trying to be "right" in a debate, or discussion. Or thinking everyone else has it wrong, or that your opinion is the most important, etc. To the point that sometimes, even if you mostly agree with someone, you may find yourself picking apart what they say anyway and literally trying to find fault with it. I honestly see this happening all the time.
 

BilliardsBall

Veteran Member
I have noticed that we sometimes get very long discussions about topics within religion and even between different people from same religion there are different views of what they scriptires means.

In my own search for the truth i found that when i speak with buddhists from same branch (theravada) even then we can see a topic totally different. To me this is not strage because i see that what has happend is that we are on different level of understading or wisdom if you like. What does this mean? it only means that when we study the same teachings/ dhamma we will only understand the teaching up to the level we have risen to.

What is your thought of this question? (why do we see things so differently)

To be frank, because Jesus taught His initiates would have keys to better unlock the scriptures.
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
What does this mean? it only means that when we study the same teachings/ dhamma we will only understand the teaching up to the level we have risen to.

What is your thought of this question? (why do we see things so differently)

Going back to the OP, to me it's due to our minds being limited. We can only perceive a part of reality. And what we perceive changes as we learn a wider view.

The book "I Heard God Laughing" renderings of Hafiz by Ladinsky expressed it thusly:

I have a thousand brilliant lies for the question:
How are you?
I have a thousand brilliant lies for the question:
What is God?

If you think that the Truth can be known from words,
if you think that the sun and the ocean
can pass through that tiny opening called the mouth,
someone should start laughing!
Someone should start wildly laughing now!
 

dfnj

Well-Known Member
I have noticed that we sometimes get very long discussions about topics within religion and even between different people from same religion there are different views of what they scriptires means.

In my own search for the truth i found that when i speak with buddhists from same branch (theravada) even then we can see a topic totally different. To me this is not strage because i see that what has happend is that we are on different level of understading or wisdom if you like. What does this mean? it only means that when we study the same teachings/ dhamma we will only understand the teaching up to the level we have risen to.

What is your thought of this question? (why do we see things so differently)

Everyone has a belief system based on their own life experiences. Every belief systems has a certain set of dogmatic beliefs. Essentially, everyone has their own personal dogma. Every dogma is built on certain set of assumptions. For our language to work, you have to have certain words as kind of like end-points of semantics. For example, "time" may be your God. For some people, anyone questioning the existence of "time" is insane. In science, the word "time" is just like the word "God". The assumption is time is eternal and universal. But in reality, you can't hold time in your hand or experience time like we experience an apple. People use evidence all of existence is evidence for God. People claim reality is evidence for Time. Here's great article on "time" not being real:

"There Is No Such Thing As Time"

As I said, everyone has a dogma. Every dogma has a set of assumptions. When we do not share or have the same assumptions as someone else we think they are insane. It's only when people share the same set of assumptions we connect with someone else's way of thinking.

For example, my own personal dogma assumes everyone has a dogma with a set of assumptions. Just like the way some people believe their own opinion is a fact, some people believe their own personal dogma is not built on assumptions but the honest to God truth of reality. Some people believe their own way of thinking is the only right way to think.

The idea some people have rock hard truths floating around in their head reminds me of this story:

One day two monks were in a garden arguing subjectivity versus objectivity. The Zen master hearing them arguing approached the two students. The Zen master asked, "that rock over there, does that exist inside your head or outside your head?". One of the monks looked up at the Zen master and replied, "Well, our religious bible tells us that all truth is subjective so that rock over there only exists inside my head." At which point the Zen master replies, "Then it must be pretty heavy all day walking around with that rock in your head!"
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
I have noticed that we sometimes get very long discussions about topics within religion and even between different people from same religion there are different views of what they scriptires means.

In my own search for the truth i found that when i speak with buddhists from same branch (theravada) even then we can see a topic totally different. To me this is not strage because i see that what has happend is that we are on different level of understading or wisdom if you like. What does this mean? it only means that when we study the same teachings/ dhamma we will only understand the teaching up to the level we have risen to.

What is your thought of this question? (why do we see things so differently)
Similar to you, but I can break it into 2 factors. First is nature, second is nurture. We're just all born really different. We all have brains wired differently, some ou us are athletes naturally, some of us have God-given skills, or inabilities. We're just naturally very diverse. Why should something like religion be any different?

Secondly, we all have a subconscious mind. It got put there by pour experiences. Growing up in a Cristian enclave in malawi is very very different than speaking Cree in a cold country. All our comments, words, thought forms are filtered through the subconscious. Each subconscious is different ... very different.

But this double explanation also explains how we can feel connected (by the first factor, wired similarly) to somebody raised in a different culture, and also how we can feel like total strangers to somebody from the same culture.
 

Jainarayan

ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Staff member
Premium Member
I'd have to say nature and nurture also, but with nurture being predominant until nature takes over, or rather, surfaces. We're influenced by our parents, families and friends, and tend to see things through their lenses. At some point if we're lucky we become our own person, we shake off the ideas we inherited from others and what we truly believe and see surfaces. That's my own experience anyway.
 

nPeace

Veteran Member
I have noticed that we sometimes get very long discussions about topics within religion and even between different people from same religion there are different views of what they scriptires means.

In my own search for the truth i found that when i speak with buddhists from same branch (theravada) even then we can see a topic totally different. To me this is not strage because i see that what has happend is that we are on different level of understading or wisdom if you like. What does this mean? it only means that when we study the same teachings/ dhamma we will only understand the teaching up to the level we have risen to.

What is your thought of this question? (why do we see things so differently)
To me, this is a most interesting question.
I would say that the reason has to do with both the object of interest, and the interest of the person.
The object of interest may not be straightforward like a recipe in a cookbook.
The interest of the person may vary, from one to another, because of their overall makeup - the person they are.
Some people are really, really humble. Some are humble, yet somewhat strong willed. Some are strong-willed, bordering on a stubborn pride. Some are proud, Yet all may believe they are humble.

So this, I believe, is one of the reasons, God is patient with us.
2 Peter 3:9 Jehovah is not slow concerning his promise, as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with you because he does not desire anyone to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance.

Actually, when we look at the ones Jesus chose, and those that followed him, we see that initially, they had problems.
On more than one occasion the disciples argued. (Mark 9:34; Acts 6:1; 15:1)
In time though, they kept being refined and molded in God's thinking.
1 Corinthians 1:10-17
10Now I urge you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you should all speak in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you may be completely united in the same mind and in the same line of thought. 11For some from the house of Chloʹe have informed me regarding you, my brothers, that there are dissensions among you. 12 What I mean is this, that each one of you says: “I belong to Paul,” “But I to Apollos,” “But I to Cephas,” “But I to Christ.” 13 Is the Christ divided? Paul was not executed on the stake for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crisʹpus and Gaius, 15 so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16 Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. As for the rest, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else. 17 For Christ sent me, not to baptize, but to declare the good news; and not with wisdom of speech, so that the torture stake of the Christ should not be made useless.
 

dfnj

Well-Known Member
The sun shines for all people. But each people has their own unique way of how they will receive the sun.

You can have a hundred buckets of water reflecting the same image of the moon but each bucket is different.
 

sealchan

Well-Known Member
I have noticed that we sometimes get very long discussions about topics within religion and even between different people from same religion there are different views of what they scriptires means.

In my own search for the truth i found that when i speak with buddhists from same branch (theravada) even then we can see a topic totally different. To me this is not strage because i see that what has happend is that we are on different level of understading or wisdom if you like. What does this mean? it only means that when we study the same teachings/ dhamma we will only understand the teaching up to the level we have risen to.

What is your thought of this question? (why do we see things so differently)

These things influence our perspective on any teaching especially if it aims at providing personal meaning:

Personal experience especially traumatic or formative experience
Knowledge/education
Skill
Personality type (ala Jungian Myers/Briggs Personality Type)
Cultural experience
 

Etritonakin

Well-Known Member
I have noticed that we sometimes get very long discussions about topics within religion and even between different people from same religion there are different views of what they scriptires means.

In my own search for the truth i found that when i speak with buddhists from same branch (theravada) even then we can see a topic totally different. To me this is not strage because i see that what has happend is that we are on different level of understading or wisdom if you like. What does this mean? it only means that when we study the same teachings/ dhamma we will only understand the teaching up to the level we have risen to.

What is your thought of this question? (why do we see things so differently)

We become aware almost instantaneously within an already-extremely-complex body, mind and environment.

We are not the original. We did not take every step toward becoming a self ourselves.

We are part -a fraction -of a whole we do not yet understand.

We are in conflict for the same reason.

Only one overall set of things has occurred -of which we are mostly ignorant.

That which we come to understand (are brought up to speed concerning) -within our 120-or-so years may have taken the original multiple billions to understand/and/or cause.

We do not yet agree -but we will.
 

Faithofchristian

Well-Known Member
I have noticed that we sometimes get very long discussions about topics within religion and even between different people from same religion there are different views of what they scriptires means.

In my own search for the truth i found that when i speak with buddhists from same branch (theravada) even then we can see a topic totally different. To me this is not strage because i see that what has happend is that we are on different level of understading or wisdom if you like. What does this mean? it only means that when we study the same teachings/ dhamma we will only understand the teaching up to the level we have risen to.

What is your thought of this question? (why do we see things so differently)

One of the most reason why we see things differently,
On the most part, as for Christianity goes.

There are those in Christianity that follows man's teachings.
Verses those of Christianity that follows the teachings of Christ Jesus.

So it come down to many see things differently.
One from man's point of view
And one from Christ Jesus point of view.

A person may say, well aren't they all the same. Nope not at all.
Not when you have one group following man's teachings.
And the other group following Christ Jesus teachings.
 

lostwanderingsoul

Well-Known Member
There is another very powerful force at work. Satan. He blinds people to the truth and spreads false teachings. Much of what Christians believe does not even match the teachings of Jesus and the Bible. But they read one verse and ignore others and think they know everything. Without this evil power affecting people's minds there would be a lot more agreement.
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
"Why do we see things so differently?"

IMHO, it is because of the brain washing we have received in our childhood. Most people are unable to get out of it. Then, most people get stuck at various points in their journey, very few will reach the goal and attain 'jhana'.
 
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