The dangers of our unique vantage points

There are some things in life that only I can know. And there are some things in life only YOU can know. That's powerful to think about, isn't it?

We all go through life with our own unique experiences - our own unique vantage point. I have seen life through a view you will never see life through; you have seen life through a view I will never see life through.

That's powerful - but, in many ways, it's also very harmful.

As you are reading this, Facebook has algorithms running in the background noting that my writing is something you like reading. As a result, they will direct similar articles and like minded thinking your way. Facebook - and all of social media - is constantly sorting us into groups of similar vantage points.

I often hear that social media is trying to pit us against one another. That's not really true. Social media is far more interested in segregating us into like minded groups for the sake of selling to us, not for staging a fight.

Think about it, if you have a store, and you know the people who come into that store will only buy coke products, that saves you the bother of trying to sell pepsi. That's a HUGE advantage when you're in the business of selling.

And believe me, social media IS in the business of selling.

The problem is, social media feeds and sells us our news and information the very same way. They feed us news and information that complies with out vantage point in life.

Before we get too fired up about social media, we need to recognize we do that to ourselves as well. This isn't just an evil social media thing.

Very generally speaking:

We choose churches and religions that comply with our vantage point in life.

We choose to live in neighborhoods that comply with our vantage point in life.

We choose running groups and book clubs and sports leagues that comply with our vantage point in life.

We choose to collect friends that comply with our vantage point in life.

Very few of us are saying, I want to go be part of something that appoaches life with a unique point of view. Very few of us are open to the possibility that my vantage point in life may not have steered me toward knowing all there is to know about life.

Very few of us have that sort of intellectual humility.

The natural flow of life is agreement. Learning requires us to go humbly against that flow.

I have this new neighbor. I've watched her walk her dog in the mornings now for about a month. To be honest, from my vantage point, she's seemed quite odd. She'll stand with her dog and look out into space for what seems like hours at a time.

And not just one day; this is every day. I have found myself trying to avoid her.

But yesterday, our paths crossed as I was headed to work and she was headed in from staring at the sky with her dog. I walked tentatively past her. But then I stopped. I stopped and I turned around and I said, hey.

I said to her, I don't know what your story is, but I moved here a year ago. And when I did, I had a challenging story going on in my life. I just want you to know if you need anything I'm here.

She looked at me like I'd just fallen out of the sky.

She went on to tell me her challenging story. She's moved here from far away - all of a sudden and on the heels of a rather traumatic event - she's living with very little because she's still waiting on the truck with her belongings to arrive after waiting on it for over a month. She's starting a brand new job. She's nervous and knows very few people.

From my vantage point, this was an odd woman staring into space. From her vantage point, she was a woman lost and looking for one sign of something familiar. From my vantage point, this was a woman I needed to avoid. From her vantage point, she was a woman in need of just one friend.

I'm going to tell you - it took some doing for me to stop and turn to her and say, hey. The natural flow of my life was steering me toward my car and to work and away from this odd woman. But only when I did say hey was I able to learn the difference between odd and abandoned.

We all have some unique and interesting vantage points in our lives. But we do a real disservice to ourselves and to each other and to the world in general when we go with the flow of believing we have THE vantage point.

It takes work to visit the social media page that may have unique information.

It takes work to visit a church that may not embrace everything from your vantage point.

It takes work to stop the neighbor who looks odd.

It all boils down to this. Are you looking to surround yourself with agreement, or the chance to learn and grow?

Agreement is built on the idea we know all there is to know. Agreement is a collection of people who think their vantage point is THE vantage point.

Learning - well that suggests my vantage point in life may have robbed me of learning a thing or two about life. Learning - learning opens the doors to new possibilities in the world; it doesn't lock us behind closed doors with all the people who look and think like us.

It's taken me some time to learn this - but I'm a big fan of learning. I'm a big fan of your vantage point in life. I insist on seeing the parts of the world I will never see without you.

I may not agree with them, but I don't want to miss out on them.