What do YOU see in war that others cannot see?

We see what the “design” of our human experience allows us to see. And the design isn’t created equally. And that’s not a bad thing. (Equality doesn’t equate to equity–but that’s a topic for another article)

When war is active, conflict is engaged, what do YOU see that others cannot see? Let’s start by understanding the limits of your sight. Your sight–what you see is limited by your human experience. For a low stake example, say you’ve seen the Grand Canyon. You have been to the Grand Canyon and you have seen it in person. You were physically there. Someone who has not been there will never see what you saw. They can see photos you took–but they will see it through your eyes. What we can see is limited to who we are and our experiences. And it gets tricky when applying this concept to beliefs and perspectives.?

The perspectives we hold to be true are attached to the lived experiences of our own humanity. We cannot see everything. We can try to understand what others see and human beings often fail at this understanding piece because we usually don’t know enough about someone else’s lived experience to know what’s behind their sight. What determines what they see? Some ingredients can be obvious–such as race, gender, age, religion–as what determines what we see. And even these are too generic. Two muslims don’t always see the same perspective. Two women can see motherhood very differently. What goes into your own human experience almost gives you a unique social DNA that belongs only to you.?

So what do you see in war that others cannot see? War impacts what you see differently than other events in your human experience. Some people get a sudden feeling of attachment to a particular side–an attachment that they didn’t even know they had. Some people start to relate or compare themselves to groups that are in the middle of the conflict–in ways that they might not have before. War brings up sides–sides that you see more clearly when you have to acknowledge them.?

As 1 million refugees flee Ukraine from Russian invasion–war feels closer to home for some. You might never have experienced someone that looks like you becoming a refugee–a victim of active war. You might be someone who sees the unfairness of the current war as allies like USA, UK, France, and other NATO nations quickly pick sides to help–rather than further attack the nation already under attack. You might be thinking “how is this different from last August when the Taliban took over Afghanistan” or “Kashmir has been in active conflict for decades over borders and no one is trying to help their sovereignty”. What you see looks very different than what your neighbor sees. An American might say “we have never had war on our home ground” and someone who is native to this region might say “we have been at war on this land since it was discovered by Europeans”. Russian citizens might be seeing the unfairness of being objected to sanctions and being blocked from the world despite protesting and ending up in prison for anti-invasion sentiment. Someone who is Jewish is seeing the horrors of what is happening in a very personal and different way than your Christian neighbor. Your Muslim neighbor has seen war–they are not seeing new images but they are seeing new people in these images.?

Whose sight matters? While the answer is obvious–the answer isn’t easy. The obvious answer is that all of what everyone sees matters. What you see is true and what your neighbor sees is true. Multiple truths exist at all times. Whose sight do you need to try to understand? Someone that sees it differently than you. Trying to see something differently doesn’t diminish the atrocity of what is happening. When someone tries to tell you what they see differently–they are not always trying to say what is happening is “okay” or what is happening is “right”...they are trying to communicate their perspective. And in doing so–they might also see what you see.?

So ask yourself, what does someone else see in war that you cannot see? #theansweristhequestion?