Monday, November 8, 2010

Tell me what you see...


I think it's funny our justice system still relies on things like witness identification. If there's one thing I've learned in this profession, it's that everything is in the eye of the beholder. Line three people up and let them observe a scene. You will get three different responses when you ask them what they saw. Our memories, biases, and way of thinking all affect how we process information. None of us see things "normally" since there is no definition of normal, just a general consensus of acceptable deviation from a standard. To the most disturbed among us, the world is a Rorschach. Their reality is so distorted, they can almost distort the reality of others and most certainly project powerfully. Today I saw a homeless, psychotic woman dressed in dirty clothes and a hospital gown randomly go up to some guy on the street and hug him as if they knew each other. He had no idea who this woman was, and extracted himself from the situation rapidly, but he sort of played along with her delusion. Whatever terrifying and fantastic world she's living in has one bright point. In that world there are friends she didn't even know she had. Everyone has a different take on the Rorschach of life, a little ingrained madness as it were, and sometimes that's the most interesting thing they've got.

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