The original design of this particular woman problem found a home on a German postcard in 1888, author anonymous. In 1915, the British cartoonist, W.E. Hill, appropriated the idea and published the image's form that later trickled into science journals and cognitive psychology text books.

I first encountered this particular woman problem ten years ago, in a writing workshop. At the beginning of class, the professor wandered around the room, showing each student a picture. He then asked us to spend five minutes writing out a character sketch to match the image. When our time was up, the class reconvened, and found that the professor had taped a different drawing, the image on the right, to the board at the front of the room.

The professor suggested that we produce a character sketch based on this new image--the entire class would participate, share our ideas, and as a group develop a new character together.

At first, we thought the exercise was silly. Writers work best as individuals, after all, and we like to stash away our best ideas for our own private triumphs. Soon, however, the exercise seemed worse than silly: the exercise was a joke, a bad joke, at that. We couldn't agree on the tiniest of details. Some wanted to mark the woman's age at 20; others felt 70 was too young. Some people were certain she was a noble lady; others argued that you'd most likely find her on the corner, begging for booze money. She was beautiful and quite sophisticated; she was gracelessly deformed, and you could hardly bear to look at her. The exercise that seemed rather foolish at the beginning now devolved into frustration and disbelief.

One woman in my class became so frustrated, she finally said, "Perverts. You're always trying to turn women into objects. Leave her alone!"

There is nothing more powerful than the force of suggestion. And nothing shapes what you see more than your past experiences. You are conditioned to interpret the world in the most particular and sweeping ways--from the moment your first cry is answered with the taste of mother's milk. Each and every one of your earliest perceptions are tied to memories of your parents' responses, to the responses of your brothers and sisters, your neighbors, your babysitters, your televisions, your teachers, your preachers, your coaches, your friends and your lovers. The associations you make between your actions and these external responses are your experiences. Your experiences tell you how to see things.

You take your perspective with you everywhere. It is the rare savant, or genius, or saint who can leave behind her perceptions, and learn something new. Who can see outside his own box?

The point of the class exercise was not to demonstrate that there are, in fact, two sides of every coin; the point was to demonstrate that you can only see one side. When you realize that you can only see one side, that is the AHA! moment that grabs each of us fewer and fewer times as we grow older and older. Our conditioners are quite competent--they have been thoroughly conditioned themselves. This is why the AHA! must be seized and exalted. If you are able to realize that you can only see one side of the coin, then you can realize how the tunnel-vision of your perspective limits you--makes you only human.

Of course, once you accept the limits of your humanity, you should be more willing to celebrate difference. You should want--need--other people to explain the other side of the coin, right?

In that old workshop, ten years ago, my professor wandered around the class room, showing everyone a picture. But not everyone was shown the same picture. It was after the professor had prepped us with these very different images that he once again brought us together. Of course we couldn't see eye to eye.

Of course, right?

Distantly Related Posts:

1. The Power of the Mind (Even Yours)
2. The Angel of Progress
3. Waking and Dreaming, Thought and Sound
4. Fascination with Heavy Objects
5. Ecclesiastes, Simulacrum, Baudrillard, Disneyland
6. Sudoku Tips and Tricks

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