Photo Synchroblog
For this month’s SynchroBlog we were asked to post a photo with minimal commentary. My brother, Alan Goss, took this photo on a trip to Europe he and his wife took last spring. It struck me as a poignant reminder that we truly do see the world from a certain point of view (and through our own lens) and that each perspective is as true as it is unique.
Here are others who have so far said that they would be joining this month’s Photo-SynchroBlog: (some of them won’t be active links until the Photo Blog is posted.)
Phil Wyman at Phil Wyman’s Square No More
Jenelle D’Alessandro at Hello Said Jenelle
Billy Calderwood at Billy Calderwood
Sam Norton at Elizaphanian
Sally Coleman at Eternal Echoes
Mike Bursell at Mike’s Musings
Steve Hayes at Notes from the Underground
Sonja Andrews at Calacirian
David Fisher at Be the Revolution
Erin Word at Decompressing Faith
KW Leslie at The Evening of Kent
Paul Walker at Out of the Cocoon
Reba Baskett at In Reba’s World
julieclawson(at)gmail(dot)com 
“Each perspective is as true as it is unique.” I almost hesitate to ask, because I sense the possibility of an unresolvable discussion of postmodernism and/or the nature of truth. But still a hypothetical in the form of a question:
If we were watching a strong swimmer try to rescue a panicked drowning person, and we all believed that the best thing the drowning person could do was to relax – is the drowning person’s panic-stricken perspective that he needs to cling desperately to the would-be rescuer, just as true as our perspective from the shore that what he needs to do is relax?
I’m not asking if what he experiences is real, or intense. I’m not asking whether his present experience makes all other options seem unthinkable. And I’m not suggesting his perspective isn’t unique to him, and different than ours in important ways. Of course it is all of those things. I’m asking if his “I need to cling desperately to this woman like I’m trying to climb a tree” is as true a statement regarding what the situation requires (not regarding his feelings) as our perspective that “as counterintuitive as this may seem, you need to relax and trust her to take care of you.”
Having slight postmodern leanings but not being a thoroughgoing postmodern myself, I’m trying to figure out just how far this postmodern “all perspectives are equally true” thing goes.
Very cool picture, by the way.
A very good picture.
excellent picture- are we moving up or down- I wonder?
I entered another post here
it reminds me of the Beatles long and winding road, that our path is not necessarily a straight one, yet this staircase is straight in the sense that it points directly to a destination.
Very nice website. I found it from NextWave. Glad to see another Texan blogging. Hope your search for good Tex Mex finds the best chile rilleno in Illinois.
Karl – to answer your question rather bluntly since I’m a tad braindead at the moment … The question needs to be asked in some situations – true for what? Pragmatics come into play imho. In this situation some perspectives of what would pragmatically work just make more sense. Take the picture – its a staircase the purpose of which is to help people go from one level to another. Someone could theoretically think that the best (quickest) way to use this particular staircase would be to use jump down the middle straight to the bottom. It is an option, it would work in a sense, but it is also stupid and would seriously hurt or kill you.
Gorgeous photo, Julie. Great perspective/interpretation, as well.
p.s. if you wouldn’t mind fixing my link to http://hellosaidjenelle.wordpress.com that’d be wonderful! thanks
Julie, thanks for the answer. I get confused by the different ways that “true” is sometimes used. “An accurate description of what I perceive/believe/feel” vs. “An accurate description of what is actually going on – or of what will actually happen to me if I try to jump down the middle of the staircase, regardless of whether I realize it or not.”
Discussions pretty quickly get into deep waters of epistemology. Flat modernism is unsatisfactory. But postmodern perspectivism seems equally, if not more so if taken literally. Good food for thought from a beautifully shot picture.
FANTASTIC photo! but it made me think TOO much!