Things aren’t always what they seem, and so the adage goes. However, the human brain is an incredibly powerful machine that makes it difficult to convince us otherwise unless we have the awareness and willingness to consider that the truth may be, in fact, different from appearances.
Our history as the human race is filled with many a chapter where individuals and groups have been mistreated because of misplaced beliefs based on what was held as truth at the time.
From a lesser-known chapter dating back to 1875, a group of twenty-two Chinese women were imprisoned upon arrival in San Francisco for unfounded assumptions based on their appearances. Because the women had traveled from China without men or children and wore makeup and colorful, flowing silk garments atypical for working class Chinese women, they were classified as “lewd and debauched” and assumed to be prostitutes.
Under their classification, California law required each woman to pay a bond of five hundred dollars in gold to indemnify the state from liability for their support. When the women were unable to pay and refused to return to China, they were imprisoned by an intolerant prejudicial American society that knew nothing of their circumstances or history. It wasn’t until after months of detention that the women were released as a result of the US Supreme Court overturning the ruling [Chy Lung v. Freeman, 92 U.S. 275 (1875)].
This rings eerie parallels with present day events involving the arrests of and violence towards innocent individuals because their clothing and appearances fed negative stereotypes.
How can we mitigate erroneous assumptions that give way to mistaken judgment in the first place? One antidote is an open mind, to cast aside preconceived notions and stereotypes, to ask questions to uncover the truth with an earnest intent to listen.
Changing our perspective changes how we see things. The Summer Palace in Beijing looks quite different from the highest perches than it does pictured above, on the approach by water.
It’s not as easily done as said because we’re each equipped with a Reticular Activating System, a complex brain function that allows us to see and hear only what substantiates our beliefs. This is the most influential region of the reticular formation, an area of the brainstem that discriminately filters information considered irrelevant, among other vital functions.
Because we all have this factory-installed hard wiring, we must be vigilant in noticing whether our own deep-seeded beliefs might cause tunnel vision that prevents us from considering different viewpoints.
If our heels are dug in especially deep on a topic, it’s likely a signal to examine things more closely. Why do we feel so staunch? What are the beliefs underlying the foundation of our seemingly fixed position? Is there real evidence substantiating these beliefs, or are they unfounded stories we inherited and never contested?
Opening ourselves to different perspectives can magically loosen the firm ground gripping our heels and liberate us from misconceptions that don’t serve us, or others.
