We’ve probably all had the frustrating experience of explaining things “perfectly clearly” only for the other person to not have a clue what we were talking about. I used to be an enterprise software architect. I once worked very hard to figure out how to explain a complex system to a non-technical F500 VP. Five minutes into my presentation, she looked at me with sad eyes and said, “John, I love you, but none of this makes sense to me.”
In retrospect, it should have been obvious to me that she didn’t care about how the system worked technically. She wanted to know how it was going to work for her world-wide business team. Our perspectives were wildly different. Both were looking at “truths” of the system, but there was very little overlap in what I was saying and what she was hearing. I am frequently challenged to either take my perspective out of my explanation or make sure my explanation fits with the other people’s perspectives in the room.
Umwelt
There is the concept of umwelt. The word means, “the world as experienced by a particular organism.” Ed Yong, recently wrote about umwelt in a New York Times essay. He talks about the radically different experiences different creatures have on this planet as compared to ours as humans. Bats see in infrared. Dogs can smell our emotions. Seals sense the subtle turbulence from water moving through fish gills via their whiskers. The world is a rich and varied place!
Our cats stare intently at walls. Dogs stop and sniff empty sections of the sidewalk. Bats zigzag in the night sky in violently random patterns. They are experiencing these aspects of the world in a richer and more intense way than we humans.
On a different scale, I feel that each of us humans has a unique umwelt. We process the world through a combination of senses and prior experiences. I would argue that our past experiences shape the world more acutely than our senses. Seeing a dog is one thing. Feeling intense emotions course through your body based on your prior interaction with dogs is entirely another.
Understanding other umwelts matters
Challenges arise when we consciously or unconsciously forget our unique experiences in the context of our interactions. Once that happens, we become as confounding as that cat who won’t tear her gaze away from the corner wall.
I’m not saying we can see the world through other people’s experiences. We can just as easily feel the world through seal’s whiskers, bat’s eyes, or cat’s ears. But we can do our best to understand each other’s perspectives and try to meet them where they’re at instead of unconsciously assuming their wearing the same lenses as us.
Hey future me!
Go forth and appreciate all the weird stuff you’re in tune with, but be aware that it takes conscious effort to bring other folks along.
Thanks to Wolfgang Hasselmann for the infrared shot of the house on the hill, Steve Adams for the cute harbor seal, and Celine Sayuri Tagami for the puppy that just wants to be friends.