How an illusion can be useful? What are the consequences when shared?

Ask a frog or a housefly or a dog to describe the world around us and they’ll give you the wrong answer.

The frog will talk about moving objects, the housefly will describe things repeated hundreds of times and the dog only sees in black and white.

Of course, our vision of the world is just as flawed, just as fake.

We can’t see the smells, as the dog does, nor can we visualize things on the edges of the spectrum. We make up a reality based on our particular way of seeing the world.

But, here’s the good part: That made-up reality is shared by many people around us, and it’s useful. We can use it to make predictions about what’s next, we can avoid bumping into people, we can appreciate a sunset.

If the illusion is working for you, stick with it.

Where we run into trouble is when the vision isn’t shared, when we assume others can and must see what we’re seeing, but they don’t.

And worse, when the vision isn’t actually useful, when our narrative of the world around us isn’t working, when it’s merely a fantasy, not a tool.

If the way you see the world isn’t helping you make the changes you seek to make, consider seeing the world differently.