(no subject)

[aliseadae]

This post brought to you by: Every single time someone at summer camp gaped at me for not having seen their favorite Disney Movie.

I think that your opinions are probably valid. Mine are too. They don't have to be the same. We don't have to agree on every little detail; we don't have to have had the same experiences. I don't have to have read your favorite book; many people have not read mine.

That doesn't mean we don't have to try to see beyond our own worlds. If you assume that the rest of the world has your experiences, it will be hard to see theirs as valid. It will be hard to approach them without condescension that they have not managed to have all the experiences that you have had. Theirs are probably just as valid. Remember that. And they might have experienced something amazing that you've never considered. Before you judge them for not having experienced the same things as you, try to learn from what they have experienced. It is just as valid as your own.

I haven't necessarily grown up with what you experienced in terms of some things. In others, perhaps I did. I know that at least one person reading this grew up going to my same elementary school. That's an experience we share. On the other hand, plenty of people reading this may have gone to the Grand Canyon. I have not. That isn't to say I wouldn't like to, just that I have yet to. I have been to many other wonderful places such as the Monteverde Cloudforest in Costa Rica, Mount Zion National Park in Utah, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. These places are valid too. Maybe you haven't been to any of them. I would recommend them; they're gorgeous. You might recommend the Grand Canyon. That doesn't mean that one of us is wrong for not having been to the places that the other has been to and enjoyed.

While I remember my experiences are valid, I need to remember that yours are equally valid and equally important. We all need to remember to shift our perspective away from the one shaped by our own lives and consider the lives of others.

Comments

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

This. This Very Thing. Thank you for this post.

[alan-yee.livejournal.com]

Agreed. This normally happens to me in the form of someone asking, "Have you seen [insert movie title]?" When I answer "no," they typically respond, "What? How could you have not seen that? It's a classic!" It's mildly irritating.

[aliseadae]

Yeah.

[mlt23.livejournal.com]

YES! While I may be missing the experience of having seen Power Rangers while I was a kid, I did read (for example) all the Black Stallion books. And both are valid choices.

(And Mount Zion National Park is absolutely gorgeous. It's one of my favorite places and that doesn't mean I wouldn't love to go to Monteverde Cloudforest.)

[aliseadae]

Mm. It is applicable to now-me as well as then-me. People seem to get really weird if you don't get their pop culture references.

[mlt23.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Now-me has a little more trouble with music references. I don't know any bands other than the Beatles and such, and while I like listening to music, my comprehension of things like lyrics is nonexistent. This mystifies many people.

(although my roommate apparently found it ridiculous when I decided that I'd been watching too much tv and wanted to read more books instead. It was like I'd personally insulted her.)

[aliseadae]

(huh. That's weird. Books are good! TV is fun too, but books are so /satisfying/.)

[vcmw]

It helps me to remember because my cultural references are so *obviously* off.
But even so I forget, but somehow I think it comes out more comical when that feeling of "of course you know X, everybody knows X" comes in regards to something that very few people are likely to be all that in to.