Ep. 48 – Perspective and Context
5 Minute Rants by THE a.m.
A podcast predicated on the journey of business and life.
Ep. 48 – Perspective and Context
Perspective is our individual sight.
It is the view from that we have standing on top of our mountain. Our site equals where we stand.
Context:
Is the filter we use to process what we see into understanding based on our history or past experiences.
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Perspective is our individual sight. It is the view from that we have standing on top of our […]
July 31, 2023
Episode Transcript
Hey what’s up, everybody? Welcome back to THE a.m. guys. Welcome back to 5 Minute Rants. Welcome back to the podcast where we talk about anything and everything predicated on the journey of life in business. I’m your host, Michael Abernathy. And guys, thanks for being part of the tribe, thank you so much for all your support and just tuning in to listen, much appreciated.
So everybody, I wanted to talk about perspective and context today. I want to talk about how we, as people view the world, how that view is shaped, and then how we filter the information given to us and the information that comes in from the outside world
So I had a good buddy of mine, he really presented this crazy concept to me, which I really think is very true, that as people, all of our sensory organs, and all of our sensory anatomy, is all basically data receptors. And so you listening right now, to me talk is actually a transfer of data. Data is leaving my body via an analog, I guess you could say method, through voice and audio, through waves and sound waves and then those sound waves are being transferred to you through your ears. And then you receive all that data from the outside. And then it affects you internally as a person. And I never thought of listening, I never thought of sight. I never thought a smell or taste or touch that way at all. And it was very profound, because it was like, my life is consistently predicated on just receiving data, and sending data and I have more receptors for receiving than I do for sending, which is crazy. It’s crazy to think about that.
But it’s very interesting how I live inside of my body, in a sense, if you would, and everything inside of me, is then receiving data via those receptors. And it’s very interesting to think about. And that leads down the whole path of how we view the world, it leads down the whole path of how we’re shaped and what really impacts our lives.
And that really brings us back to perspective and context, I want to define those really quick. Perspective is where we are on a journey in life ,and if you can see, and imagine a path where the beginning of that path is your birth, and the end of that path on top of a mountain somewhere way high up is your death, okay? And the pathway is actually your lifespan and your journey through life. And so that is perspective. And as I grow, as I move through life, I go along that path into different stages and into different places. Right context is the history of that path, which I filter the new information that I receive, as I’m walking along my journey.
To give you an example of this, most of us grew up in school, we grew up with a history in the context of never be wrong. You don’t ever want to get a wrong answer in a test, you need to get all the right answers to all the problems. You need to get good grades, don’t be wrong. And so the majority of us, unless you haven’t had an education, so that means just about everybody, grows up under the context of always be right, never be wrong. And as a result, when we’re walking through the journey of life, we filter what we see, we filter what we experience, we filter all the interactions that we have, through that history through that context of don’t ever be wrong, always be right.
And it’s interesting because we as people function this way. And as a result, we tend to have set beliefs that don’t change predicated on our context, right? We’ve made decisions and belief decisions of how things should be run, how things should be done, for instance, “well my dad did it this way so I’m always going to do this way.” I’m a third generation farmer, that’s great. But what if your dad did it wrong? And we’ve never questioned that. Why? the context says, don’t question that. And so where we’re sitting is we never question what was done before us. And we’re doing it because it was always done before us.
Anyways, jumping back to perspective, it’s very interesting, because I think one of the most important things we can actually do is as we move through the journey in life, we continue to remove the filter we have of our context. It’s not saying that context is wrong or bad. But when I’m listening to somebody and removing my context, so I can listen to them and I can see where they’re coming from. I can meet them where they’re at to really communicate. I can help them, I can partner with him better because my filter is being removed. And I’m not just coming from a place of this is my history, this my experience and now everything you say is filtered through that. And I really believe that in order to move forward with teamwork and partnership, this is something that is so vital.
Well guys, I’m out of time. I hope you’ll have a great day and I will catch you on the flip side peace!