Lessons from the Tinted Glasses

A young couple moved into a new apartment. One morning, the

woman looked out of her kitchen window and saw the neighbours’ laundry drying on a line. The clothes looked

dirty, really dirty. ‘I don’t think they know how to wash clothes. They look so dirty!’ said she to her husband.‘Maybe they use a lousy detergent!’ added the husband

absent-mindedly, his face still buried in the newspaper.

A few days later, this happened again. Dirty-looking laundry again. Derogatory remarks about the neighbours’ incompetence again.

Then, one Sunday morning, the woman was in for a surprise. She looked out of her window and saw really clean laundry. ‘Ah!’ she exclaimed, ‘They finally learnt

how to do it right. Perhaps someone taught them how to wash clothes!’

‘Actually dear,’ said her husband, ‘I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.’ Ouch! What’s true for the couple is true for all of us too. It only confirms what behavioural scientists have

maintained all along. We see things not the way they are but the way we are! Our windows—our tinted glasses—

significantly impact our view of the world.