It's all in the Eye of the Beholder
I see the world in a completely different light than most people. Where others see monotony, stagnancy, and the mundane, my eyes light up with opportunity. The world around me is put on in this way of seeing things from my perspective as a photographer and documenter of life’s happenings. I am no stranger to presenting my perspective into the world, as the portfolio grows ever larger from documenting how I witness change and stagnancy.
What I gather from this is that as time progresses, perspectives shift and our world views skew as we grow farther and farther from our initial exposure to how the world works. Our parents, primary and secondary education, religious affiliation and friends act as our initial foray into what we see out of the world. This foundational upbringing is so critical because it sets the course of understanding for the rest of one’s life, while it is subject to change. The fundamentals are gathered from these primary sources.
In Communication and the Natural World, Judith Hendry suggests that there are two ways we ought to rationalize nature: technical and cultural rationality. Technical rationality falls in the sector of finding the truth through values and patterns. The discovery of the world through the scientific method, using computers and mathematical equations, and finding evidence-backed truths are ways in which we can create a "neutral’ view of reality (182). The other way we witness the world revolves way more around the human experience: an uncountable metric that science cannot quantify. Cultural rationality is our understanding of the world through personal experience which adds to how humans put value on the natural (182).
These two perspectives on rationalizing nature juxtapose themselves in my personal character development. As expectations mount ever-higher to make success for myself, my parents’ only viewpoint for seeing success is through a shorthand list of professional occupations. Theirs and society’s majority formula for framing success and being accepted in society is the school to work pipeline: work your ass off high school and college to get accepted into a good internship or medical school, rise up the ranks in that respective field, bring home a large paycheck, live the “American Dream” with material items to display your perceived wealth, and die with nothing more than a dollar sign next to your name. This is a very basic outline that society has made my folks feel what certain success is. I cannot fault them for thinking this way; my perspective comes from one of privilege that has been provided the opportunity to explore my passions without the financial or familial burden. Immigrating to the United States from the Philippines required laser focus on the goal to make “it”, however my folks saw “it”. I am a product of their technical rationality; there’s no denying it that I would not be where I am without their commitment to seeing it through until their children are also as “successful” as them.
Where the paths diverge brings us to the current day: I have been at a floating crossroad ever since university began three years ago. The realization that life has much more meaning than working for that big paycheck and to flaunt material goods has lead me to discover what it truly means to see the world in its full glory. I have so much more to offer in this life being excited and passionate about my self-fulfillment than the expectations around me. It is from this life path where the world benefits from self discovery. The more we witness people live and document it, the more I can show others that are involved deeper in the technical rationality a light to inspire and captivate. Cultural rationality from an ancestral upbringing guides me in several ways more than the technical, now a days. It’s a feeling that I chase while I chase waterfalls, face nature’s ferociousness head first, get caught in the rain and let nature work completely against me. Of course the future is uncertain; there is not way that anyone can be sure. What is for certain is that at the end of it all, we come to death and that final moment of wondering if what I have done in this life was what I have wanted.
Risk assessments play a role in both rationalities, quantifiably and emotionally. If without risk, nothing would be worth doing. To pursue life is to think about risk and the “what if”. Technical rationality can put risk into numbers and variables, but it cannot play out the cultural rationality of what it has done to the psyche of people.
I want to end this my saying that looking at life through both perspectives is vital to survival because without it, chaos and anarchy would ensue. We as humans have organized ourselves up to this point for me to write this blog on a computer and not on a stone tablet. Where your passions lie, prosperity is sure to follow.
Sources:
Hendry, J. (2020). Communication and the Modern World, Second Edition. Strata Publishing.